Yahoo Sports previews the 2026 college football Top 25 with Oklahoma’s playoff question leading the countdown

With the college football season fast approaching, Yahoo Sports released its preseason Top 25 for 2026, centering the national debate on Oklahoma’s ability to get back to the College Football Playoff. The question matters not only because of what the Sooners did last year, but because of what has to change to reach the sport’s top postseason tier again in a schedule-packed era.

According to the Yahoo Sports preview, Oklahoma entered the 2025 postseason after a 10-2 regular season, only to be eliminated at home in the first round of the College Football Playoff, with Alabama knocking the Sooners out. That specific finish is the anchor for Oklahoma’s outlook in the preseason conversation, since it frames the 2026 task as more than just “better than last year.” It is about finishing the year in the playoff, then winning enough games once there to keep the championship pathway open.

Oklahoma’s ranking position in the preseason list, No. 12, indicates that expectations remain meaningful but not automatic. Being placed inside the Top 15 also implies the national view is that the Sooners still have enough returning quality and program momentum to contend, even after a playoff exit that made their championship hopes end quickly.

The preseason ranking also highlights how quickly the timeline turns in college football. Yahoo notes that August is the closing window before Week Zero arrives on Aug. 29, moving teams from summer preparation into the first meaningful games. For a team like Oklahoma, that short runway can affect how quickly line play, quarterback timing, and continuity show up against early-season competition.

From a broader perspective, preseason Top 25 lists tend to reflect two things at once: what a team already proved and what it needs to prove again. In Oklahoma’s case, the proven baseline includes the 10-win regular season and playoff qualification, while the unanswered part is whether the team can convert that resume into a deeper postseason run after the Alabama loss.

Alabama’s name appearing in Oklahoma’s playoff story also underscores how the SEC’s elite programs continue to shape the national playoff picture. The matchup referenced in the preview is a reminder that playoff qualification is only half of the equation, and that early-round matchups can quickly determine whether a top program’s season becomes a championship story or a short postseason exit.

As 2026 begins, the simplest way to track whether Oklahoma’s preseason placement is justified will be to watch whether the Sooners look like a team built to win back-to-back high-stakes games. If they do, the No. 12 preseason mark could be a baseline that rises quickly. If not, it may be closer to the ceiling implied by a playoff loss already on the program’s recent résumé.