College Football Playoff 2020: Projected top 4 after Week 2

3. Oklahoma Sooners (1-0)

It’s not a surprise to see the Sooners as a favorite to go back to the College Football Playoff even after losing so many key players. The Sooners have the second-most appearances in the College Football Playoff with four after Clemson and Alabama’s five appearances.

The Sooners are projected to go to their fourth straight College Football Playoff because they are the likely winner of the last Power Five conference playing football in the fall of 2020.

Oklahoma started the season with their only non-conference game on the schedule against Missouri State. This was not going to be a difficult game for the Sooners to win. The Sooners dominated the Bears at home with a 48-0 shutout with 41 points scored in the first half.

This was the first start for redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler as the Sooners’ new highly-prolific passer. In 2017 and 2018, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy, respectively, for the Sooners. Last season, Jalen Hurts finished second after LSU’s Joe Burrow. Before the season even started, Rattler was receiving recognition for the Heisman.

Rattler threw for 290 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions on 14-of-17 passing. Overall, the offense accounted for 608 yards with 484 of them coming from the passing game. The defense dominated the Bears as they held Missouri State to 135 total yards and a third down conversion rate of 0-11.

The Sooners will start their conference play on Sept. 26 as they will host Kansas State.

Time will only tell if the Sooners are for real with their high-powered team on both sides of the ball when they play more proficient teams in the Big 12. History has shown that they are still serious favorites to win the Big 12 title.