Through Aug. 22, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason college football Top 25 with overviews of each team. We start with No. 25: the Oklahoma Sooners.
Conference realignment can be a difficult transition for schools perceived as taking a step up in competition, but the inaugural go-around in the SEC for Oklahoma went a lot rougher than anybody could have imagined. The 2024 team started solidly by winning three of its first four. Then the bottom fell out, losing four league games by double digits and giving away a fifth with two touchdowns allowed in the final 63 seconds to Missouri. The Sooners had injuries hamper the offense to the point where there were virtually no healthy wide receivers, but disappointment is an understatement for a program that prides itself on consistency.
