Anyone would be forgiven for thinking Oklahoma's win over TCU on Nov. 25 happened years ago.

That was barely a week ago, but so much has happened to the Sooners since then. For example, they narrowly missed both the Big 12 Championship and a New Year's Six bowl game, instead accepting a bid to play No. 14-ranked Arizona in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28. The Sooners also elevated analyst Seth Littrell to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Joe Jon Finley to co-offensive coordinator in the wake of Jeff Lebby's departure for Mississippi State. Plus, a slew of OU players have already hit the transfer portal, most notably Dillon Gabriel, Tawee Walker, Key Lawrence and Daylan Smothers.

There's been a lot that's happened across the national landscape. The College Football Playoff Committee selected Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama to the four-team playoff, controversially leaving out Florida State.

Jesse Crittenden and Bryan Clinton will discuss it all in the latest installment of OUInsider Roundtable:

Jesse: Can the answer be both yes and no? I'm not opposed to the argument that Alabama is simply a better team than Florida State. While this year was a "down" season for the SEC, it has been the most dominant conference in college football for over a decade, and the Crimson Tide earned a playoff berth with an impressive win over Georgia.

But guess who also earned a playoff berth? Florida State. The committee set a completely new precedent by leaving out an undefeated, Power Five champion. Plus, the Seminoles beat LSU and Florida — two SEC teams! The one argument the committee kept emphasizing was Jordan Travis' injury, but I don't buy it. Why were the Seminoles ranked fourth going into the weekend if that was such a concern? It also sends a bad message — that teams are nothing without their quarterback, even if they continue to win big games without him.

Also, I'm not sure the "Alabama is better" argument holds a ton of weight, considering they needed a miracle play to beat a middling Auburn team while also narrowly skating by South Florida, Texas A&M and Arkansas. Yes, Alabama probably has a better chance to beat Michigan with both teams as currently constructed, and the SEC is better than the ACC. But I haven't really heard an argument that proves the debate one way or another.

I could keep going on and on. At least one deserving team was going to be left out. Both Alabama and Florida State deserved a chance. That's the flaw in a four-team playoff for five power conferences. Thank goodness for the incoming 12-team playoff.

Bryan: As hard as it was, I believe the selection committee made the right choice given the situation. I can definitely understand the outrage from Florida State, and this does absolutely sting for that program. For the first time ever, an undefeated Power Five champion is on the outside looking in when it comes to the College Football Playoff. The truth of the matter is, without Jordan Travis, Florida State is not on the same echelon as Texas or Alabama. And don’t give me the Cardale Jones argument. He lit up a good Wisconsin team 59-0 in the Big Ten Championship. Brock Glenn went 8-21 for 55 yards against Louisville in a 16-6 win. It’s not fair, and it’s certainly not an easy pill to swallow, but this is why an expanded playoff is coming.

Jesse: Absolutely. Things looked pretty good for Oklahoma after Texas snagged a playoff spot and SMU beat Tulane in the AAC championship game. Both of those wins easily stack up against anything that Penn State, Ole Miss and Missouri can offer. Plus, OU has more wins against eligible teams. But I guess if you want to give credit to the committee for anything, it's that their position didn't change. They held the Sooners' losses to Oklahoma State and Kansas against them too much to put them ahead of those teams, and the results over the weekend didn't change that.

Is that fair? I'd argue no. But I guess there's an argument to be had. Again, that's going to be the value of a 12-team playoff — less room for subjectivity when evaluating teams. And for OU, it all comes back to the same question: how in the world did they lose to Oklahoma State and Kansas?

Bryan: I say yes, and it’s because I believe this committee placed too much credit in having “good losses” instead of good wins. Missouri had losses to LSU (49-39) and Georgia (30-21); Ole Penn State lost to Michigan (24-15) and Ohio State (20-12); and Ole Miss had losses to Alabama (24-10) and Georgia (52-17). Yes, those losses are against better opponents than Oklahoma State and Kansas. However, Oklahoma has wins over the Big 12 Champion Texas (12-1) and the AAC Champion SMU (11-2). Missouri’s best win? No. 21 Tennessee. Penn State’s? No. 17 Iowa. What about Ole Miss’s top win? A 55-49 shootout over No. 13 LSU. In no way did any of those three teams do anything that should put them ahead of OU, and that cost the Sooners a NY6 bowl bid.

Jesse: The hope — a reasonable one, at that — is that Littrell can provide some consistency while also making some necessary tweaks. While Littrell's offenses have historically thrown the ball more than Lebby's offenses, both coaches like to play fast and threaten defenses down the field. Littrell's offenses have been some of the most explosive in college football. The Sooners operated the same way under Lebby.

But, the Sooners needed some variety. Lebby's offenses relied too heavily on run-pass-option plays, and that made OU easier to defend. Plus, the play calling in late-game situations was often questionable. Littrell has more experience, and has had plenty of success, as a play caller and offensive architect. And Littrell has shown more of a willingness to adapt his scheme to better fit his personnel.

Bryan: A change in personnel. I believe Oklahoma's offensive personnel is going to be much more versatile going forward, as the Sooners rarely operated in anything but 11 personnel over the last two seasons. Under Littrell, I expect some two-back (21) and two tight end (12) looks, which forces opposing defenses to make their own personnel changes. Anytime an offense can be multiple in its groupings, they become much more difficult to defend. Two-back and two-tight end looks stress linebackers and safeties in ways that 11 personnel just can't. It's a major change to the way Oklahoma's offense will operate, even if the same style of plays are being called. At the end of the day, I expect some concepts to change as well. The reliance on run-pass-option plays is likely gone, meaning more called runs. That will be music to Bill Bedenbaugh's ears because his OL can now work downfield on running plays and actually come off the ball with some velocity.

Jesse: Drake Stoops was incredible. Dillon Gabriel had some great moments, too. And, of course, the offense had some tough moments, too. But considering both Stoops and Gabriel will be gone next season, what are the other things that happened that the Sooners can build upon? There's a lot. Most importantly, Gavin Sawchuk has firmly established himself as the starting running back next season. His explosiveness and consistency were crucial to OU's offense. Plus, the emergence of wide receivers Nic Anderson and Jayden Gibson is huge for the Sooners moving forward. Also, the Sooners appear to have real weapons on the offensive line with Jacob Sexton and Cayden Green.

Bryan: The emergence of Sawchuk. Having a reliable and explosive running game showed just how nuclear the unit can be when clicking on all cylinders. With Dillon Gabriel able to attack secondaries downfield and Sawchuk carving teams up in the first and second level, the Oklahoma offense is nearly unstoppable. In each of his last four games, Sawchuk has eclipsed 100 yards and has looked every bit of the running back that we saw against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl. If he can build on that heading into 2024, and Jackson Arnold can gain command of a new-look offense under Seth Littrell, the SEC might be in for all it can handle with the Sooners offense. Another thing that stood out in the back half of the year is just how good Dillon Gabriel was in 2023. He ranks fifth nationally with 3,660 yards through the air, 10th in completion percentage (.693), and fourth in points responsible for (252) with 42 total touchdowns on the year. At this point, it's safe to say that DG was outstanding in 2023.

Jesse: The Sooners' defense largely struggled, and the most alarming was the rushing defense. The Sooners surrendered more than 3.9 yards per carry just once in the first seven games. Here's the YPC for each of OU's opponents over the final five weeks: 5.49 (Kansas), 3.84 (Oklahoma State), 4.29 (West Virginia), 5.71 (BYU) and 6.07 (TCU). They surrendered 217 yards to a BYU team that finished dead last in the Big 12 in rushing. They also allowed a season-high 45 points to TCU.

The Sooners had some positives, too. Kip Lewis is a budding star at linebacker. Peyton Bowen continues to show his potential as a playmaker. R Mason Thomas and Adepoju Adebawore showed real progress at defensive end. But it was a little disappointing to see the Sooners' defense struggle to end the season.

Bryan: The defense seemed to crumble in the second half of the season after looking so dominant in the Texas game. The most disappointing position on the field was linebacker, as Jaren Kanak and even Danny Stutsman started to make repeat mistakes that we simply didn't see early on in the year. A front seven that was more than capable against the run to start the year was gashed against BYU and TCU in the last two games of the year. The run fits were just plain bad, and I know that the guys in that room are better than what the film showed. Perhaps Stutsman is still battling an injury or opponents have just found something that confuses them, but there needs to be some improvement there. On a more positive note, another thing that stood out to me down the stretch was the play of Billy Bowman. There were several times in the back half of the year when Bowman made play after play to keep the OU D out of trouble. With a pick-six in each of his last two games, Bowman has been a very bright spot on a unit that declined from the first half of the year.