The Oklahoma Sooners have been one of the more intriguing teams of the offseason. Analysts across the country are high on the Sooners and expect a bounce-back 2025 season. But in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll released on Monday, it looks like Oklahoma still has a lot to prove.
Oklahoma just missed the top 25, but landed as the leader in the “others receiving votes” category. The Sooners will have an opportunity to prove they’re a different team than the one that went 6-7 a year ago with an early top 25 matchup against the Michigan Wolverines, who were ranked No. 14 in the initial Coaches Poll.
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In total, the Sooners will play seven teams ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll. Their Red River Rival, the Texas Longhorns, come in at No. 1 in the nation on the backs of a talented and experienced defense and riding the hype of former five-star quarterback Arch Manning. Manning takes over for another former five-star in Quinn Ewers.
The Sooners will also face a pair of preseason top 10 teams in No. 8 Alabama and No. 9 LSU. Oklahoma will go on the road the week after the Red River Showdown to take on the preseason No. 13 team, South Carolina, and then welcomes No. 15 Ole Miss to town the following week. As if that wasn’t tough enough, the Sooners then go on the road to close out the toughest four-game stretch in the nation with a road trip to Knoxville to take on the preseason No. 18 Tennessee Volunteers.
It’s a tough schedule, but the Sooners are an improved team from what they were a year ago. It’s an experienced group on the defensive side of the ball, and OU revamped its offense behind big-time acquisitions of offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, quarterback John Mateer, and running back Jaydn Ott.
The season will start with a matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 when the No. 1 Texas Longhorns will travel to Columbus to take on the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in a rematch of their College Football Playoff semifinal matchup from a year ago. The Oklahoma Sooners will open the season on Aug. 30 against FCS Illinois State before welcoming Michigan to town the following week for a big-time primetime matchup.
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Here’s a look at the rest of the US LBM Coaches Poll.
Full US LBM Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
1st‑place Votes |
High/Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Texas |
0‑0 |
1606 |
28 |
1/1 |
|
2 |
Ohio State |
0‑0 |
1565 |
20 |
2/2 |
|
3 |
Penn State |
0‑0 |
1525 |
14 |
3/3 |
|
4 |
Georgia |
0‑0 |
1466 |
3 |
4/4 |
|
5 |
Notre Dame |
0‑0 |
1360 |
0 |
5/5 |
|
6 |
Clemson |
0‑0 |
1324 |
2 |
6/6 |
|
7 |
Oregon |
0‑0 |
1307 |
0 |
7/7 |
|
8 |
Alabama |
0‑0 |
1210 |
0 |
8/8 |
|
9 |
LSU |
0‑0 |
1056 |
0 |
9/9 |
|
10 |
Miami (FL) |
0‑0 |
823 |
0 |
10/10 |
|
11 |
Arizona State |
0‑0 |
806 |
0 |
11/11 |
|
12 |
Illinois |
0‑0 |
734 |
0 |
12/12 |
|
13 |
South Carolina |
0‑0 |
665 |
0 |
13/13 |
|
14 |
Michigan |
0‑0 |
580 |
0 |
14/14 |
|
15 |
Ole Miss |
0‑0 |
573 |
0 |
15/15 |
|
16 |
SMU |
0‑0 |
555 |
0 |
16/16 |
|
17 |
Florida |
0‑0 |
498 |
0 |
17/17 |
|
18 |
Tennessee |
0‑0 |
492 |
0 |
18/18 |
|
19 |
Indiana |
0‑0 |
460 |
0 |
19/19 |
|
20 |
Kansas State |
0‑0 |
438 |
0 |
20/20 |
|
21 |
Texas A&M |
0‑0 |
392 |
0 |
21/21 |
|
21 |
Iowa State |
0‑0 |
392 |
0 |
21/21 |
|
23 |
BYU |
0‑0 |
287 |
0 |
23/23 |
|
24 |
Texas Tech |
0‑0 |
261 |
0 |
24/24 |
|
25 |
Boise State |
0‑0 |
246 |
0 |
25/25 |
Others Receiving Votes
Oklahoma 221; Missouri 142; Louisville 126; USC 116; Utah 86; Baylor 76; Auburn 50; Iowa 49; Memphis 34; Army West Point 33; Tulane 31; Georgia Tech 27; TCU 24; Nebraska 19; Syracuse 16; Washington 15; Navy 14; Arkansas 14; Duke 12; Colorado 12; Minnesota 11; UNLV 8; Florida State 8; Kansas 6; Vanderbilt 3; Buffalo 1;
List Of Voters
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2025 season: Tim Albin, Charlotte; Dave Aranda, Baylor; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jason Candle, Toledo; Ryan Carty, Delaware; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Dave Doeren, North Carolina State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Luke Fickell, Wisconsin; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Hugh Freeze, Auburn; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Southern Mississippi; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State; Jeff Monken, Army; Jim Mora, Connecticut; Eric Morris, North Texas; Billy Napier, Florida; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Jay Norvell, Colorado State; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Jay Sawvel, Wyoming, Willie Simmons, Florida International; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso.
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Helpful Info
*The highest and lowest ranking each team has held during the designated season. Any team that starts the season unranked and/or falls out of the top 25 during the season will reflect a “NR” (not ranked) designation as its lowest rank.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma unranked, Texas No. 1 in preseason US LBM Coaches Poll
