College Football Rankings: Why Oklahoma Sooners Got Screwed by the Pollsters

Nothing like getting penalized for beating a conference rival by 10.

That's what Oklahoma Sooner fans must be thinking in wake of the latest AP Poll.

The Sooners, who held the No. 1 spot in the polls for the first three weeks of the season, were bumped by the LSU Tigers and now sit at No. 2.


LSU received 42 first-place votes from the 60-member media panel and 1,471 points. Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes and 1,422 points.

That means the vote wasn't even close.

The Tigers get the bump up after crushing the West Virgina Mountaineers 47-21. They now have two top-tier out-of-conference wins to go with their brutal SEC slate.

Yet, the Sooners looked great in their 38-28 home win over Missouri, a team that was ranked earlier in the season. QB Landry Jones played well, and the defense held their own against a very potent Tigers' aerial attack. This comes one week after beating a Florida State team that was ranked No. 5 at the time ON THE ROAD.

When you start the season as No. 1, the pollsters are essentially saying you are the team to beat. I don't care who you play or how you win...as long as you stay undefeated you should be No. 1.

Just because the Tigers had a tough September schedule doesn't make them worthy of a takeover. I'm not trying to take anything away for LSU's magical month, I just think people get too caught up in the results of the most recent outing.


Next week, the Ball State Cardinals come to Norman in the final out of conference game of the year for OU while LSU has a home date with Kentucky. Both teams will be heavily favored, and it's unlikely that the polls are going to change at the top.

The true No. 1 is stuck playing catch up despite getting off to a great start.