CBS Sports' experts don't think OU can reach CFP's final four in 2026

The Oklahoma Sooners are still looking for their first College Football Playoff victory, but the 2026 season could be shaping up to be the year that OU gets that monkey off its back. While it's still far too early to tell, and major factors like the schedule, injuries, and a little bit of luck are still to be determined, the Sooners feel like they're set themselves up this offseason to have a successful fall . However, even with the unexpected trip to the CFP last year, combined with some solid player acquisition this offseason, there is still much that the Sooners have to prove.

CBS Sports' panel of college football experts released their very early picks for the final four teams left standing in the playoff for next season. Of the ten analysts who made selections, none of them picked Oklahoma. A total of nine other teams earned at least one nod from the panel, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, Miami, Texas Tech, Georgia, Oregon, and Michigan.

In just this coming season alone, the Sooners will play four of those nine teams in the regular season. During the ten years of the four-team CFP era (2014-2023), the Sooners made the field four times, losing in the semifinal round in 2015 under Bob Stoops, and in 2017, 2018, and 2019 under Lincoln Riley. With the 12-team version of the CFP turning three years old in 2026, OU made the expanded playoff for the first time in year two of its existence in 2025 under Brent Venables.

The Sooners are 0-5 in the CFP, losing in their first game of all five appearances. So, to make it to the final four of the 2026 playoff would require not one, but two playoff wins, something that Oklahoma has not yet been able to do. Additionally, this is Oklahoma Football, where the goal isn't just to make the semifinals, the goal every year is to win the national championship.