Week 7 preview: Key conference matchups, Oklahoma's 'Dog Pound' defense and more

If the assemblage shot satellite needed different reminder that preseason hype isn't worthy much, a peek astatine this week's AP canvass would bash the trick. This year's preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams -- Texas and Penn State -- person dropped retired of the Top 25 and are simply among the Others receiving votes.

Just past week, they were some inactive top-10 teams with genuine playoff ambition. And now, they're conscionable hoping to stay competitively relevant. The assemblage shot play comes astatine you fast.

This week's slate presents 3 matchups of ranked teams: No. 1 Ohio State astatine No. 17 Illinois, No. 8 Alabama astatine No. 14 Missouri and No. 7 Indiana astatine No. 3 Oregon. All 3 should beryllium assignment viewings, but there's different crippled with imaginable playoff implications worthy spotlighting: No. 24 USF astatine North Texas connected Friday night.

USF is simply a 1.5-point favorite, but UNT comes successful undefeated arsenic some teams look susceptible of winning the American, which has positioned itself arsenic the Group of 5 league astir apt to beryllium represented successful the playoff. -- Kyle Bonagura

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Oklahoma's 'Dog Pound' defense

Dog Pound. Ninja Turtles. Power Rangers. The nicknames Oklahoma's antiaircraft enactment portion has adopted successful 2025 are many. But the communal denominator among them is simple.

"The full happening down that mindset is this: We're them guys," elder antiaircraft tackle Gracen Halton told ESPN this week. "No substance what, we're present to play. That's the mindset."

No. 6 Oklahoma (6-0) rolls backmost to the Cotton Bowl connected Saturday to look Texas (3-2) successful the 121st variation of the Red River Rivalry (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The matchup has been reasonably affable of precocious to the Sooners, winners successful 7 of the past 10 games betwixt the schools from 2016 to 2024.

However, each of those victories came with enactment from an Oklahoma discourtesy that finished successful the apical 10 successful scoring nationally. This time, the Sooners instrumentality to look Texas with the nation's second-ranked defense, anchored by a ferocious and heavy antiaircraft enactment portion that enters Week ...