Essentials Inside The Story

• Oklahoma Sooners favored to win against LSU and qualify for CFP
• OU's graduation ceremonies and final exams coincide with first playoff game against Notre Dame
• Notre Dame at an advantage as its graduation ceremonies will be in January

The Oklahoma Sooners fans were long overdue for the satisfying news of playoff qualification under Brent Venables. It would finally come to fruition after a win against LSU on 29th November. The Sooners are projected to win the game per ESPN FPI and have a 73.8% chance of doing so. A playoff qualification would be the next sure step. However, OU’s academic calendar presents a newer challenge for the Oklahoma head coach.

Oklahoma is currently ranked 8th after the Week 12 CFP rankings, and Brent Venables would be seeded to play his playoff first-round game against a 9th-ranked Notre Dame. The date? The first round is slated to be played from December 19th to 20th. However, that date coincides with OU’s graduation ceremonies and students’ final exams.

Coping with both academic responsibilities and a crucial playoff game in the same period can create extra workload for the students, even if OU management finds a way to postpone the events. For now, Sooners’ athletic director Joe Castiglione has also called for exploring alternatives for the same. “We have been in touch with the campus about all of this. Alternatives are being discussed.”

The graduation ceremonies for OU are scheduled for Saturday, December 20, 2025. This would include students of all major colleges from engineering, journalism, art and sciences participating, among others, at the Lloyd Noble Centre in Norman, Oklahoma. According to reports, however, the management is currently trying to resolve the date conflict and has pledged to support any changes to the academic calendar.

“On Sunday, Dec. 7, the 12-team CFP brackets and pairings will be announced. The University is monitoring potential scenarios, and if any adjustments become necessary, we will communicate updates promptly to the University community,” said OU’s marketing and communication team to OU Daily through email. The conflict of the academic calendar, however, isn’t a new development in college football.

Last year, before the 2024 season started, Penn State rescheduled their winter graduation dates in April. The Fighting Irish’s hierarchy also did the same in August last year and moved the exam week, and rescheduled 140 tests to accommodate the adjustments the program had made. Of course, there was some backlash post that since Notre Dame prides itself on academic reputation.

“When the decision was made, we did have some isolated faculty comments about whether football should take precedence,” said a law school professor to Sports Illustrated. SMU Mustangs, on the other hand, didn’t move the schedule a bit, and the exams coincided with the practices for the playoff game. So, in the morning, the players had their practice from December 12th to 18th, and they gave their final exams in the afternoon. That also created complications of its own.

“That’s good, but it doesn’t necessarily address preparing for those finals while also preparing for the biggest game of their lives. It presents a lot of challenges on the academic side, for sure,” said  SMU athletic rep, Paul Rogers. The solution seems to be no clearer than a thick blanket of fog. Coaches want to align their post-season and transfer portal and suggest moving the calendar up.

Many Big 10 coaches increasingly advocate for a January 1 national title game. While others don’t necessarily agree with the same. Even now, when the portal window is moved to January, many coaches like Ryan Day don’t agree to it since they would be playing their final games at that period. As for Oklahoma, though, Notre Dame might gain something from its academic calendar conflict.

Notre Dame is gaining a slight edge against Oklahoma in the first round game

Right now, since Notre Dame is increasingly expected to play against OU in the first round. The Fighting Irish could surely have some advantage owing to their 2025 academic calendar. The graduation ceremonies for the program are scheduled in January. Whereas, the final exams are from December 12th to 15th, going up to 18th at most. We could then see the Fighting Irish players with a lesser baggage for preparing for the exam, while playing one of the most important games of their lives.

As for the academic calendar and college football calendar aligning with the postseason, there seems to be no consensus. “There’s a lot that goes into it. The only way you get there is for everybody to get together and figure it out as a collective. Maybe this is something that causes a bigger change. Just moving one piece or making one rule, we’ve tried that for too long. That’s not the answer. This is much bigger than moving or changing just one thing,” said a Power 4 GM to The Athletic. The verdict?

Oklahoma will qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season under Lincoln Riley. The team had lost to LSU in the semifinals. The 2025 playoff appearance then carries a huge importance for both the Sooners and Brent Venables. Most likely, we could see the final exams and graduation ceremonies being pushed further away to avoid any conflict. However, the debate on a perfect CFB schedule will always rage on, and a solution isn’t yet in sight.