Phil Steele picks surprise College Football Playoff contender out of the SEC
By Mark Kern
Published:
College football expert Phil Steele recently visited The Herd with Colin Cowherd to preview the 2025 season and shared some interesting thoughts.
During the conversation, the topic of what teams could surprise and make a run at the College Football Playoff. You have your expected contenders in Texas, Ohio State and Penn State, but was there an off the radar team that could make a run? Cowherd picked a team from the B1G in Illinois, while Steele picked a team from the SEC that could finally take that next step under its current coach.
“I like your Illinois pick, but I am going to say Oklahoma,” Steele said. “A team that was 6-7 last year. They had 0 returning starters on the offensive line, and were down their top 5 receivers at one point. This year, they have a veteran offensive line, a veteran receiving corps. They have added Jaydn Ott who was the best running back in the Pac-12. They added John Mateer at quarterback. Nothing was wrong with that defense last year, and now, they have an offense to go with.”
This is exciting news for Oklahoma fans who are ready for the team to get rolling under Venables. Steele was right about how good the Oklahoma defense was last season. In the late-season upset victory against Alabama, the Sooners defense dominated that game from the opening kick, and prevented the Crimson Tide from making the CFP.
If the offense is able to go to another level with Mateer leading the way, then the Sooners could end up being a team playing in games late in the season with a chance to make it to the CFP on the line.
Oklahoma opens the season against Illinois State on Aug. 30 in Norman.
