UCF head coach Gus Malzahn knows a little something about what a championship caliber football team looks like. He was an assistant coach for the 2010 Auburn Tigers, who behind Cam Newton went on to win the BCS National Championship. Three years later, after taking over as head coach of the Tigers, Malzahn led Auburn back to the Championship game, only to fall just short against the Florida State Seminoles. Now leading UCF, one of the newest members of the Big 12, Malzahn had an up-close-and-personal look at an Oklahoma football team, one that is departing the Big 12 and heading to the SEC next year, that he believes could be contending for a championship at year's end.

“They're disappointed, there's no doubt,” Malzahn said of his team's mindset following their 31-29 loss to the Sooners. “But they also know that we played toe-to-toe with one of the best, if not the best.” (h/t Cody Nagel of 247 Sports).

The record doesn't lie, and neither does the most recent AP Poll. The Oklahoma football team is 7-0 and ranked 6th in the nation, a testament to what Sooners head coach Brent Venables has been able to do in just his second year in Norman.

With their neutral site game against the Texas Longhorns in the books, the rest of Oklahoma's schedule doesn't have a ranked team on it. Unless they trip up in a game that they'll be big favorites to win, a 12-0 regular season and potential rematch with Texas in the Big 12 Championship game looks likely. Only then will we learn if Malzahn's assessment of the Oklahoma Sooners is correct.