Of the four teams hosting games in the first round of this College Football Playoff, only one opened as a betting underdog: the Oklahoma Sooners, who on Friday night host an Alabama team they already defeated this season. The Sooners are well aware of that.

Lane Kiffin's new staff extends an offer to the talented Tennessee native, enters the race alongside multiple prominent schools.

John Mateer shouldn’t necessarily need to rehash or reiterate why he chose to transfer to Oklahoma prior to this season. It is evident, with respect to his previous university, that there is a different prestige at his position around these parts.

And Venables went back to doing what he does best — hiring himself as defensive coordinator after his protege, Zac Alley, left for West Virginia. The 2025 Sooner defense rivals the best defenses Venables coordinated at Clemson in the 2010s and at OU in the early 2000s.

The Oklahoma Sooners have to slow down the Alabama passing attack led by Ty Simpson to have success on Friday night.

The Sooners and Crimson Tide meet tonight in the College Football Playoff with rosters that seem to be built from different criteria.