Paul Finebaum still in on Oklahoma's College Football Playoff chances after loss to Texas

The Oklahoma Sooners dropped Red River to the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. That would be the first loss of the season for the Sooners, and has now put more pressure on the Sooners to perform in the second half of their schedule if they want to make it to the College Football Playoff.

The race for the CFP is still wide open. Amid it, the Sooners are going to have the opportunity to have their say, assuming they can navigate a very difficult SEC schedule, as Paul Finebaum explained on SportsCenter this Sunday morning.

“Somebody is going to accuse me of being Paulie Positive over here this morning,” Paul Finebaum said. “But I am still in on them. The caveat is the road schedule. They play at South Carolina. I think they can navigate that. They’re also at Tennessee and at Alabama. Those are not easy places to win. I think it’s self-explanatory there. They have to win the home games, mainly against Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU. I think that’s doable.”

Oklahoma has six games remaining, all of which are in the SEC. Of those, five of the remaining six are against teams who entered this past weekend ranked in the AP Top 25. It’s arguably the toughest second-half schedule in the country because of that.

For Finebaum, that schedule being so difficult is a blessing and a curse. Yes, it’s much more difficult to win those games. At the same time, last season several SEC schools missed the College Football Playoff with 9-3 records. It was one loss too many. This season, Oklahoma has such a difficult schedule that Finebaum thinks the Sooners could squeeze in even if they lose two of their final four games to fall to 9-3.

“Here’s the interesting part,” Finebaum said. “If they finish 9-3, they still might squeeze into the Playoff because of the brutal schedule. Although, Michigan losing yesterday does not help them late in the season.”

In the loss to Texas in Red River, Oklahoma saw quarterback John Mateer return from injury. However, he’d struggle, and the offense only scored six points for the entire night. That was in no small part because of the three interceptions that Mateer threw in the game. So, moving forward, he needs to play better for Oklahoma to get back to the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma is back on the road next week to play South Carolina. The Gamecocks are currently unranked at 3-3 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play, making this Oklahoma’s last currently unranked opponent on the schedule.