Oklahoma Football: 3 takeaways from Big 12 upset loss at Kansas State

1. There is no more room for error for Oklahoma this season

Oklahoma came into Saturday having won 22 consecutive true road games dating back to the 2014 season. They were locked in a top-five spot in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll and making an argument for the College Football Playoff selection committee to rate them in the top four of their rankings that will come out next month.

Now Oklahoma finds themselves up against the wall, with their College Football Playoff dreams hanging on by a thread. Teams like Baylor now have the recipe to slow down Jalen Hurts and crew, and the Sooners might find themselves entering the Big 12 championship game (if they even make the game) as an underdog.

Of course, that is the doomsday scenario. If Oklahoma finds motivation to correct its issues and runs the table after this tough road loss, the Sooners will be right in the mix for College Football Playoff consideration.

But they certainly gave teams like Pac-12 front-runner Oregon hope for a chance to sneak in and swoop one of the four spots in the New Year’s Six semifinals.

Lincoln Riley doesn’t have any reason to completely reinvent the wheel in Norman. Kansas State was simply a team well-constructed to upset the Sooners in what was clearly a trap game. But the fact that Oklahoma fell into that trap and never managed to claw their way out bodes well for teams across the country as the AP Top 25 will be reshuffled once again this weekend.