Team 131 of Oklahoma football, as head coach Brent Venables often refers to it, made a season out of stepping up to adversity and capitalizing on opponents' mistakes.
On Friday night, in the opening round of the 2025 College Football Playoff, all that good fortune that led to the Sooners' magical November run switched sides and quickly snowballed into Oklahoma's undoing.
No. 8 Oklahoma entered its playoff matchup against No. 9 Alabama owning a home-field advantage, with Friday's game being played for the first time at the "Palace on the Prairie" in Norman, along with the confidence of knowing it already had a regular-season win over this same Crimson Tide team.