Oklahoma is under 30 hours away from kickoff with their second-straight playoff semi-final meeting with the SEC champions. In a game in which the Sooners are being given little to no chance to win it is time for SoonerScoop.com to give our final predictions on what is coming this weekend in Norman. Take a look as three Scoop staffers take on the big task in front of Kyler Murray and co.

This has been an interesting week covering all things Oklahoma-Alabama before the Orange Bowl. The disrespect is real from both sides, or at least the fans.

A good chunk of 'Bama fans cannot understand or even fathom how the Sooners hang with the Tide in Miami on Saturday night. A good chunk of OU fans have no clue why Tide faithful don’t respect what Lincoln Riley’s group has accomplished.

We know the matchups. What will OU’s offensive line be able to do against Alabama’s defensive line? Will the Sooners be able to put any sort of pressure on Alabama’s quarterback, or will the defensive backs be on an island?

What role, if any, will Austin Seibert play in this? OU seems to have a clear-cut edge in that regard.

The Sooners will have success, rack up yards and put up points, but what don’t know right now is whether that’s because the game is ultra-competitive. Or because OU is so far behind that the Sooners are in desperation mode.

The health of Marquise Brown remains a major X-factor in this one. Because if he’s just a decoy, the game changes in a hurry. If he can be effective, it also changes (duh). It’s just something none of us are going to know until warmups, at the earliest, or until the game itself.

You know Riley has been cooking up some tricks with quarterback Kyler Murray, and it will take the Tide a while to adjust to OU’s speed, pace and execution. Saw that last year with Georgia, too, in the Rose Bowl.

The question then becomes what happens after Alabama adjusts? OU can’t be a one-trick pony. Sooners have to be ready to counter the counter, so to speak.

The OU defensive confidence is at an all-time high for this season, read that for however you will, but Alabama has too many weapons and knows how to use them.

Without causing game-changing turnovers, the Sooners are simply playing catch up too much of the way and bow out in the playoff semifinals for the third time in four seasons.

Alabama 48

Oklahoma 35

Everything we know about this game on paper tells you Alabama should win. And maybe even win in comfortable fashion. Listen to media members talk around the media hotel this week and you'd think Oklahoma is just lucky to be here. I mean, Bama players wear matching socks at practice!

There's an argument to be made in why Oklahoma could win the game. They'll need flawless execution on the offensive side of the ball, aided by continued improvement defensively. Get a handful of stops and rely on the athletic ability of a once in a lifetime performer in Kyler Murray. Easy enough, right? Simply put: Oklahoma needs to put together it is best game of the year. Can that happen? Sure. It's not crazy to think it can't. But will it?

Murray is the most dynamic player in the country. Perhaps we (the collective 'we') haven't given the dual-sport star enough credit. yes that's pretty strange to say aloud. And, yes, even weirder to say when you realize the Heisman Trophy resides in Norman. None of what Oklahoma has done offensively is normal. It's unique. But at the same time has almost become commonplace when it comes to Lincoln Riley's offense over the last few seasons.

However, for me to pick Oklahoma I'd have to believe in the Sooners defense. And simply put: I just don't. I just can't. It's not that I don't believe they've played well over the last two games. They have. It's that I don't trust them versus a team like Alabama. And versus a quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa. In what has been a common theme throughout the year ... at some point the defensive inefficiencies have to catch up with Oklahoma. If not, the landscape of college football will be changed forever. And who better to engineer that change than Lincoln MF'n Riley. But I'll have to see it to believe it. Tide in a close one.

Alabama 48

Oklahoma 43

This is an incredibly interesting game that goes one of two ways.

1) A historic game that will live up to the hype and go down as one of the all-time great playoff games.

2) Oklahoma's defense can't come up with any stops and Oklahoma just can't keep up.

Me? I think it ends up closer to the former though, after presenting the two possibilities, I'm inclined to think of a third option.

I think this is a game where Oklahoma, as they did last year, comes out white hot, the defense does a few things that Alabama doesn't see coming and the Sooners might even take a lead into halftime.

Some will find it ridiculous to claim that the Sooners can find a way to deal with Alabama's offense but the reality? Alabama's defense hasn't faced anything like what Oklahoma runs out there. The flip side? Oklahoma faces an elite offense just about every time it takes the field.

Now, the difference is, and to me, the story of this game will be what Oklahoma's front seven can do with Alabama's run game. If the Tide can consistently run, forget all about anything I've said to this point. This is not the Alabama offense you're used to seeing, they are barely top 35 in the country n rushing offense, something that can help Oklahoma.

The scary part is that this isn't the Alabama offense you're used to seeing. That passing offense and ability to threaten vertically is exactly what has troubled Oklahoma all year.

As the game wears on I just imagine the Sooners struggling to maintain that defensive stability - something I'm probably reaching to believe happens anyway.

I think a late touchdown makes Alabama's win look a little better than it is.

The real silver lining for you though? My record picking against Oklahoma is flat out awful.

Alabama 56

Oklahoma 42