Ole Miss loss means Sooners move up

Ole Miss’ 16-10 loss to South Carolina on Thursday night was a reminder of two things.

1. Early polls are unreliable. Mississippi was ranked fourth and had done virtually nothing. The Rebels this season had defeated Memphis and Southeastern Louisiana. That’s no reason to raise some team to fourth in America. When Oklahoma State jumped all the way to No. 5 earlier this month, the Cowboys got there by beating Georgia, not Memphis.

2. Oklahoma’s pathback to national contention will come quickly. OU is ninth in the coaches poll and 10th in AP, which means the idle Soonerslikely will rise to at least eighth and ninth next week. If OU beats Miami and Texas, OU will be back in the top five.

The loss to Brigham Young could hurt the Sooners if two other major-conference teams win out, but otherwise, that Sam Bradfordless (at least for a half) loss won’t resonate. So this season would sort of become what last season became: cheering against Penn State to lose.