The College Football Playoff is coming to Norman. Oklahoma was slotted as the CFP's No. 8 seed Sunday morning and will host No. 9 seed Alabama in a first-round contest Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The OU-Alabama winner will face No. 1 seed and Big Ten champion Indiana in the CFP Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 at 3 p.m. CT in Pasadena, Calif.

The Sooners, who will be making their fifth CFP appearance and first since 2019, are 10-2 overall under fourth-year head coach Brent Venables and went 6-2 in Southeastern Conference play. OU has won its last four games and is the only team in the country to win five contests against AP-ranked teams at the time of competition.

Alabama is 10-3 overall after its 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship yesterday. It went 7-1 in regular season conference play. The Crimson Tide ranks 41st nationally in scoring offense (31.2 ppg) and 12th in scoring defense (17.4 ppg).

Oklahoma and Alabama met on Nov. 15 this season in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the Sooners came away with a 23-21 win. It was the Crimson Tide’s first home loss in SEC play since 2019. OU, which also posted a 24-3 home win over Alabama last season, is 5-2-1 in the series all-time and has won five of the last six meetings.

Other first-round CFP games feature No. 12 seed James Madison at No. 5 Oregon, No. 11 seed Tulane at No. 6 seed Ole Miss and No. 10 seed Miami at No. 7 seed Texas A&M. The four first-round byes went to No. 1 seed Indiana, No. 2 seed Ohio State, No. 3 seed Georgia and No. 4 seed Texas Tech.

The Sooners are making their fifth College Football Playoff appearance, tied with Georgia for fourth most nationally behind Alabama (nine), Clemson (seven) and Ohio State (seven). OU played in the four-team CFP in 2015 (Orange Bowl), 2017 (Rose Bowl), 2018 (Orange Bowl) and 2019 (Peach Bowl).

Venables coached in 10 College Football Playoff games as defensive coordinator at Clemson and went 6-4. The Tigers made four CFP National Championships with Venables on staff and won titles in 2016 and 2018. Venables also coached in four national championship games as an OU defensive coordinator (won in 2000).

This marks Oklahoma's school-record 27th straight year to make the postseason, with only Georgia (29) holding a longer active streak. This season also represents OU's 43rd with at least 10 wins, trailing only Alabama (44). Since the end of World War II (1946 season), OU leads the country with its 716 victories (28 more than Alabama, the program with the next most).

OU is 8-3 in December home games. The Alabama first-round CFP contest will mark the latest home game in the calendar year in the Sooners' 131-year history. The previous latest home game came in 1985 when OU beat SMU 35-13 on Dec. 7. Barry Switzer's team went on to beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl to claim the program's sixth AP national title.

TICKET INFORMATION

Season Ticket Holder Presale

An exclusive presale for season ticket holders begins Monday, Dec. 8. Season ticket holders should refer to an email titled "Sooners to Host Alabama in CFP First Round" for their assigned access time and purchase link. Presale times are based on Sooner Club membership level and Championship Points associated with the account.

Public On-Sale

*A public on-sale begins Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. CT. Tickets begin at $173 per seat. Click here to explore availability and make a purchase starting Dec. 9.

Student Ticket Information

All student season and partial-plan ticket holders can begin purchasing tickets for the first-round playoff game on Monday, Dec. 8. Sooner Club Collegiate Members can begin purchasing at 10 a.m. CT, while all other student ticket holders can begin purchasing at 1 p.m. CT.

If student section inventory remains after these windows, full-time OU students without a football ticket plan will have the opportunity to purchase on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. CT. All student tickets will be $35 each.

The Doug Gottlieb Show