Oklahoma Sooners in the top 5 of Josh Pate’s SEC Power Ratings
The Oklahoma Sooners are heading into a new era of college football. Now, there are two mega conferences in college football with the additions the SEC and Big 10 are making in 2024.
The Sooners elected to join the SEC, which sort of started this new wave of conference realignment. Much has been made about whether Oklahoma is “SEC ready”? Even after a 10-3 season, that question still looms over the program.
The program is heading in the right direction. They may not be ready to compete for an SEC championship in 2024, but you can tell with how they are recruiting, especially on the defensive side of the ball, they have a vision of what it’ll take to make this team ready for the week in, week out grind of the SEC.
While Oklahoma will be competitive in their inaugural season in 2024, 2025 is the year they’ll be serious title contenders. They’re still a young team and by 2025 a lot of this young talent will be seasoned.
But what about next season? How well can the Sooners do in Year 1? CBSSports’ and the Late Kick Show’s Josh Pate shared his SEC Power Ratings heading into the 2024 season Sunday night. In it, he values a rolling three-year snapshot of on-field performance, talent acquisition, and stability resource pool. Given all of that, he feels the Sooners are the fifth-best SEC program heading into 2024.
That means Oklahoma is probably around an 8-4 or 9-3 team in 2024, which is what I would have them at. And with the 12-team playoff incoming, there’s a possibility that puts them in the College Football Playoff in 2024.
I do think the LSU Tigers are a little overvalued because last year they were so bad defensively and were carried by their offense. Well, gone is Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and their star receiver Malik Nabors. Both are first round picks in 2024.
Here’s a look at how the SEC stacks up, according to Josh Pate.
Georgia Bulldogs
2023 Record: 13-1
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 1
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 1
More: Way too early 2024 SEC Power Rankings
Alabama Crimson Tide
2023 Record: 12-2
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 2
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 4
Texas Longhorns
2023 Record: 12-2
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 3
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 3
LSU Tigers
2023 Record: 10-3
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 4
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 8
Oklahoma Sooners
2023 Record: 10-3
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 6
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 7
Ole Miss Rebels
2023 Record: 11-2
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 10
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 2
Tennessee Volunteers
2023 Record: 9-4
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 7
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 6
Texas A&M Aggies
2023 Record: 7-6
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 12
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 11
Auburn Tigers
2023 Record: 6-7
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 5
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 10
Missouri Tigers
2023 Record: 11-2
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 9
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 5
South Carolina Gamecocks
2023 Record: 5-7
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 11
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 12
Kentucky Wildcats
2023 Record: 7-6
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 13
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 9
Florida Gators
2023 Record: 5-7
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 8
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 14
Arkansas Razorbacks
2023 Record: 4-8
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 15
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 15
Mississippi State Bulldogs
2023 Record: 5-7
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 14
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 13
Vanderbilt Commodores
2023 Record: 2-10
2024 SEC Recruiting Rank: 16
Sooners Wire Way Too Early Power Ranking: 16
