Today's Tulsa World article "national magazine editors weigh in on OU" revealed what I had hoped. The Sooners are ranked a high of No. 17 (Athlon) and a low of No. 21 (Lindy's). I think that is exactly where this squad should begin. There is ample opportunity for ranking improvement, which I hope is a motivating factor for a team that ended up at 8-5 last season while getting kicked in the teeth by Clemson in yet another bowl game that most thought OU would win. Note: Tennessee isn't rank too far behind the Sooners, so that makes the game in Knoxville even more important if the Sooners expect to move up. OU is picked "no higher" than 3rd in the Big XII which comes at no surprise. I admittedly am relying on what is fast becoming a foggy memory for more recent events, but I think that OU has performed better than expected in those seasons when they were ranked outside the preseason Top 10. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds better than dropping from a Top 5 or 10 team. The composite ranking of three magazines (Sporting News being the third) have OU at NO. 19 with TCU at NO. 2 and Baylor tied with Auburn at NO. 4. Plenty of room for improvement and perhaps a little relief for the OU coaching staff, but I doubt they would admit it.