Oklahoma ranks No. 12 in ESPN's too-early Top 25 for 2026

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Less than 24 hours have passed since the FBS national championship game. So, may as well look forward to August.

Mark Schlabach at ESPN released his way-too-early Top 25 for the 2026 season on Tuesday with a couple of interesting inclusions, though title-winner Indiana ranking as No. 1 on Schlabach's list isn't among them. Texas at No. 2, Louisville at No. 14 and LSU at No. 15, on the other hand, were.

The SEC was, unsurprisingly well-represented. Besides the second-ranked Longhorns, Georgia ranked fourth, Ole Miss ranked ninth and Texas A&M was 10th to round out the top 10. Oklahoma came next at No. 12 while Alabama ranked 21st and Tennessee 24th.

The Sooners are coming off their best season in coach Brent Venables' four seasons, having made the 12-team College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. Oklahoma fell to Alabama in the first round before the Crimson Tide lost to Indiana in the quarterfinals.

One of the biggest keys for OU returning to similar heights, or exceeding them, is the health and play of quarterback John Mateer.

"The Sooners won 10 games for the second time in three seasons under coach Brent Venables," Schlabach wrote. "But the OU offense fell apart after quarterback John Mateer broke a bone in his throwing hand. He's coming back, and the Sooners are hoping he returns to his form from the first half of the 2025 season, when he was a Heisman Trophy contender."

Oklahoma will open the 2026 season on Sept. 5 at home against Texas-El Paso.

This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma among five SEC teams ESPN's too-early Top 12 for 2026

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