In this week’s edition of Mussatto’s Minutes, we tackle OU’s College Football Playoff woes, make our first-round picks, revisit SEC preseason predictions, preview the Thunder’s Christmas gift and highlight some of the best sports stories from around the state.
OU still searching for first CFP win
Alabama has been the biggest winner of the College Football Playoff era. Since the inception of the playoff in 2014, the Crimson Tide has the most wins in CFP games (nine) and the most national championships (three).
OU, meanwhile, has been the biggest loser. The Sooners are 0-4 in College Football Playoff games. OU is the only program in the country with multiple CFP appearances and zero CFP wins.
On Friday night in Norman, OU will finally get its first playoff win or Alabama will become the first team to reach double-digit CFP victories.
Of course this will be the Sooners’ first time hosting a CFP game. Their previous four appearances came in the old four-team format.
- 2015 Orange Bowl: Clemson 37, OU 17
- 2017 Rose Bowl: Georgia 54, OU 48 (2OT)
- 2018 Orange Bowl: Alabama 45, OU 34
- 2019 Peach Bowl: LSU 63, OU 28
OU’s four losses in the College Football Playoff are tied with Ohio State for the second most behind only Alabama and Clemson with five. The big difference, though, is Alabama (9-5), Ohio State (7-4) and Clemson (6-5) are the three winningest teams in the CFP era.
Only 12 programs have ever won a College Football Playoff game: Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Michigan, Texas, LSU, Penn State, Washington, Oregon and TCU.
That list will grow exponentially as we enter Year 2 of the 12-team format with future expansion likely on the horizon.
No team is more due for a CFP win than the Sooners.
College Football Playoff first-round picks
OU vs. Alabama: 21-16 Crimson Tide. It goes back to the old adage: It’s hard to beat a team three times in 13 months. The Sooners were outplayed in Tuscaloosa, but they forced enough turnovers to overcome that. Alabama should win if it takes care of the ball — no easy task against this OU defense.
Texas A&M vs. Miami: 24-21 Aggies. Carson Beck and the Canes will have their hands full against Texas A&M’s defense and that Kyle Field crowd.
Ole Miss vs. Tulane: 27-24 Green Wave. Ole Miss won the first matchup 45-10. Give me the upset in Game 2. Will the Rebels be more motivated to win without Lane Kiffin or will the Green Wave be more motivated to win for Jon Sumrall?
Oregon vs. James Madison: 38-10 Ducks. James Madison joined the FBS ranks in 2022. Four seasons later, here it is in the CFP. Can James Madison keep this competitive? JMU lost by two touchdowns to Louisville — the only Power Four team the Dukes faced.
Revisiting SEC football bold predictions
Time to see how my SEC bold predictions from August aged. We did the Big 12 last week.
1. OU goes 8-4 in regular season: “A bounceback season for the Sooners,” I wrote. Boy was it. If you told me then that I’d be two games off, I would’ve thought 6-6 was more likely than 10-2. (0 for 1)
2. John Mateer leads OU in rushing yards: Forget an 1,000-yard rusher, OU didn’t have a 500-yard rusher. Tory Blaylock led the Sooners with 444 rushing yards. Xavier Robinson had 417. John Mateer had 416. Take out the sacks — which in college counts against rushing yards — Mateer would’ve had it. And he did lead OU with seven rushing touchdowns. (0 for 2)
3. Florida goes .500 in brutal four-game stretch: at LSU, at Miami, vs. Texas and at Texas A&M was the stretch I was referring to. The Gators went 1-3, which is one more win than I have. (0 for 3)
4. Vanderbilt wins more SEC games than Tennessee: What a remarkable season for Clark Lea and the Commodores (10-2, 6-2 SEC). And they finished it off by thumping Tennessee (8-4, 4-4 SEC) in Knoxville. (1 for 4)
5. LSU wins the SEC: Let’s just pretend this didn’t happen. (1 for 5)
6. Garrett Nussmeier wins SEC Offensive Player of the Year: Make it stop. (1 for 6)
7. Anthony Hill Jr. wins SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Hill had another terrific year, but the award went to Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell, who led the SEC with 11.5 sacks. (1 for 7)
8. Brian Kelly wins SEC Coach of the Year: Turns out I was a tad too high on the Tigers. (1 for 8)
9. Four SEC teams make the playoff: It was five. I picked LSU, Texas, Alabama and Texas A&M to get in. Two of those teams did, plus OU, Ole Miss and Georgia. (1 for 9)
10. Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas make coaching changes: Check, check and check. I didn’t see LSU, Ole Miss or Florida coming. (2 for 10)
Merry Clipmas, Thunder
How fun was that Thunder-Spurs game Saturday night in the NBA Cup semifinals? The next 10 days will bring two more Thunder-Spurs clashes: Dec. 23 at San Antonio and Christmas Day in Oklahoma City.
Speaking of Christmas, the Thunder hosts the Clippers at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
The Clippers (6-19) owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder. As of Sunday, the Clippers were tied for the third-worst record in the league. As things stand, there’s a 47.4% chance that the Clippers pick will land in the top-four of the lottery. There’s a 12.4% chance that it winds up at No. 1.
I simulated the lottery 10 times on tankathon.com. The Clippers pick landed, on average, at 4.5. It landed at No. 1 once and in the top five 60% of the time.
Scouts love this 2026 draft class. Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa and Duke forward Cameron Boozer are the consensus top-three players in the class. Then there’s North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson and Tennessee forward Nate Ament.
As things stand, the Thunder will likely be in position to draft one of those players.
Obviously things could change, but this is looking like a disaster scenario for 29 of the league’s 30 teams.
The SGA/Paul George trade is the gift that keeps on giving.
You’re doing fine, Oklahomans
The Southern Nazarene women’s rugby team won the Division I national championship, as awarded by the National Collegiate Rugby Organization, with an 82-21 win against Northern Iowa earlier this month in Houston. Crimson Storm senior Telesi Uhatafe was named MVP.
Murray State College freshman Jackson Roumbanis won the Tri-Nations Bass Tournament in South Africa, helping lead Team USA to the overall championship. Fellow Aggie Gabe Morrow also represented Team USA.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Will OU football finally get first CFP victory? | Mussatto’s Minutes
