EA Sports' College Football 25 Video Game Ranks Oklahoma in Multiple Categories – Sports Illustrated

This week, EA Sports has gone even more in depth for its roll out of the new College Football 25 video game.

For “Rankings Week”, the video game revealed its “Top 25 Toughest Places to Play” on Tuesday, followed by the game’s top 25 offenses and defenses on Thursday.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been included in the top 25 for each of the aforementioned categories, making the top 10 in EA’s “Toughest Places to Pay”.

Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium came in at No. 8 on EA’s list, just behind Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, WI. Florida State’s Doak S Campbell Stadium and Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium rounded out the top 10.

The Palace on the Prairie was the fifth-ranked SEC school on the “Toughest Places to Play” list, coming in behind Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium, LSU’s Tiger Stadium and Georgia’s Sanford Stadium.

OU will play its 2024 regular season finale at Tiger Stadium as the Sooners travel to Baton Rouge for a Nov. 30 showdown against LSU.

According to College Football 25’s website, the video game considered a variety of factors when build its best home stadium rankings, including “home winning (percentage), home game attendance, active home winning streaks, team prestige, and more.”

Oklahoma has sold out over 150 consecutive games, the second highest in the nation behind only Nebraska. Additionally, the Sooners have an impressive 54-8 home record over the past 10 seasons, making OU an easy choice for one of the “Toughest Places to Play” ranking.

While Brent Venables’ team wasn’t included in the game’s top 10 offense or defenses, they were in the top 25 for both categories.

Oklahoma’s offense checked in at No. 23 with an 83 overall rating, the same rating as Florida State, Virginia Tech and USC. The Seminoles came in just ahead of the Sooners at No. 22 while the Hokies and Trojans rounded out the top 25.

OU is the eighth-ranked SEC offense, according to EA, coming in behind Georgia, Alabama, Texas, LSU, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas A&M.

Led by new offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, Oklahoma’s offense has its strengths, but a few question marks as well.

The Sooners’ receiving corps could be one of the best in college football with Deion Burks, Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony, Jayden Gibson, Brenen Thompson and a number of other talented pass catchers in Emmett Jones’ position group. Under center for OU, however, will be a true sophomore quarterback who has just one career start under his belt.

While Jackson Arnold certainly has the potential to be a high level quarterback, he will also have to prove he can operate effectively against SEC defense without turning the ball over excessively. Additionally, Bill Bedenbaugh must replace all five starters along the offensive line in front of Arnold.

While there are multiple unproven pieces on Oklahoma’s offense, the unit still has the potential to be dangerous in 2024.

On the other hand, the Sooners’ defense came in at No. 12 on EA’s list with an 88 overall rating.

OU’s 88 overall rating puts them even with Texas, Penn State, Utah, Florida State and Iowa. Iowa’s defense checked in at No. 13 while the other programs with an 88 overall rating all were slotted ahead of Zac Alley’s unit.

Oklahoma boasts the fourth-highest ranked defense among SEC schools, coming in behind Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M and Florida made the cut for EA’s top 25 defenses as well.

Veteran defenders Billy Bowman, Danny Stutsman, Woodi Washington, Ethan Downs and Da’Jon Terry will all return to Norman for the 2024 campaign, giving Alley’s group plenty of talent and experience. Additionally, the Sooners added Damonic Williams, Caiden Woullard and Dez Malone through the transfer portal, giving OU’s defense even more depth along the defensive line and in the secondary.