College Football Rankings 2020: Projected AP Top 25 for Week 12

Left for dead in the water after they opened the season 1-2, Oklahoma has won four straight and is right back in the thick of a glutted Big 12 race. The Sooners sit at 5-2 in the standings and 4-2 in conference play, holding a tiebreaker over Texas but losing a tiebreaker against Kansas State. Still, as they took a rest in Week 11, the Sooners will remain somewhere in the mid-to-high teens of the AP Top 25 and on track for a return to the league championship game.

Oklahoma’s success is due in large part to a defense that forces their opponents to be one-dimensional. Teams can pass on the Sooners, but average fewer than 100 yards per game on the ground against the defending Big 12 champs. In his first season as the starter, quarterback Spencer Rattler ranks among the top 15 nationally in passing efficiency. Turnovers have been one of the biggest issues that need to be shored up in Norman, as the currently sit negative in turnover margin.

Bedlam looms on the schedule in Week 12, as the Sooners prepare for a visit from Oklahoma State. That game will go a long way toward determining which of the two rivals finishes in the top two of the regular-season standings and plays for the Big 12 title this year.