Which teams at the Power Four level of Division I FBS College Football have a bright future, and which have futures that look dark?
That’s the question ESPN college football writer Adam Rittenberg attempted to answer this week. He ranked all 68 Power Four teams by how their next couple of years are looking, taking every team from the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish into consideration.
Rittenberg’s power rankings were based on six factors: Returning quarterback, likelihood of a multiyear QB on roster, offensive line/defensive line outlook, roster management, star power and coaching staff.
The Oklahoma Sooners are entering Year 2 in the Southeastern Conference and Year 4 under head coach Brent Venables. However, it’ll be Year 1 for new general manager Jim Nagy, who has replaced Curtis Lofton atop OU’s front office.
Oklahoma’s 6-7 overall record and 2-6 mark in SEC play in 2024 wasn’t good enough. As a result, plenty of changes were made this offseason to make the present-day better. But the future was also taken into consideration as well.
Rittenberg ranked OU 27th out of 68 teams. For content, that’s 26 spots below the Texas Longhorns at No. 1, 41 spots ahead of the Stanford Cardinal at No. 68, and in the middle of the USC Trojans (26th) and the Texas A&M Aggies (28th). It places Oklahoma at tenth in the SEC over the next two seasons and is eleven spots below last year’s ranking of 16th.
Let’s go through each of Rittenberg’s six criteria (along with his analysis) and examine if the Sooners have a future that is bright or dark.
1. Returning Quarterback
No. Oklahoma’s offense needed a reset after 2024, when Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins Jr. took the majority of snaps. Arnold is off to Auburn, and while Hawkins is back, Oklahoma landed the biggest quarterback transfer prize of the cycle in…
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Publish date : 2025-06-14 14:01:00
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