Way-too-early Top 25 projections for 2021 college football season

Oklahoma finished 2020 as they have each of the previous six seasons, as the Big 12 champion and a participant in a New Year’s Six bowl game. The Sooners failed to reach the College Football Playoff in 2020, and they lose key players on both sides of the ball like Ronnie Perkins and Rhamondre Stevenson. But voters are going to have Lincoln Riley’s team firmly in the top five of the AP Top 25 to open the 2021 season thanks to strong recruiting across the board and a star in the making under center.

After depending heavily on transfer quarterbacks each of his first three seasons as the head coach in Norman, Riley turned to homegrown talent Spencer Rattler to replace Heisman finalist Jalen Hurts. Rattler responded by leading the Big 12 and finishing in the top 20 nationally in passing efficiency, touchdowns through the air, yards per game, and yards per completion. His three-touchdown performance against Florida in the Cotton Bowl, coupled with the return of Marcus Major at running back, should make the Sooners dangerous on offense once again.

Oklahoma opens the 2021 season at Tulane and hosts FCS fodder Western Carolina before a huge intersectional showdown against former Big Eight rival Nebraska. As one of the top six teams nationally in recruiting over the past five years, pollsters are going to be high on the Sooners heading into 2021 and a bowl bump will push them into the national discussion right away.