It’s going to be difficult for Oklahoma to improve on last season’s 11-2 campaign, which included a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff berth. Let’s take a look at five bold predictions for Bob Stoops and the Sooners entering 2016.

Throw a million darts at a dart board and one of them is bound to be a bullseye, right?

1. Oklahoma will win its first five games. It’s a tall order, sure. The Sooners’ early season slate includes Houston, Ohio State, TCU and Texas. The real kicker? Only one of those games is in Norman. However, the Buckeyes and Frogs lost some key pieces from a season ago and Texas still isn’t sure who its quarterback is. If the OU offense is anywhere nearly as potent as it was to close 2015, it should be able to enter its Oct. 15 matchup against Kansas State with a zero in the loss column.

2. The Sooners will have a Heisman contender … not named Baker Mayfield. Don’t get me wrong — Mayfield is still one of the three best quarterbacks in college football. But the Sooners are loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball, including Samaje Perine, who somehow has “quietly” snuck up on OU’s all-time rushing record. If Perine has a season anything like his freshman year (when he rushed for more than 1,700 yards), it’s unlikely the Heisman voters could pass him over again.

3. OU won’t make the College Football Playoff. Yes, I still believe Oklahoma will win all of its first five games, but a run like that is physically taxing on a team. The Sooners will face Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State — all with extremely potent offenses — in the final month of the season with just a week off in between. Considering OU has some serious holes to fill at linebacker and in the secondary, it’s not unreasonable to think one of those three teams could hand Oklahoma a late-season loss, knocking them out of playoff contention.

4. This will be Lincoln Riley’s final season in Norman. Bob Stoops has a knack for getting his coordinators hired elsewhere, especially on the offensive side. Think Mike Leach, Mark Mangino, Chuck Long and Kevin Wilson. Now, Stoops has one of the greatest young offensive minds in college football on his hands. Riley, who is just 32 years old, led one of the most dramatic offensive turnarounds at OU in 2015. Riley said he’s not in a hurry to leave Norman back in December, but with retirement seemingly not on Stoops’ radar, someone could come knocking with an offer too good to pass up.

5. Oklahoma is going to have to outscore its opponents. Generally, this John Madden-esque prediction goes without saying. But the Sooners relied heavily on their defense for stops when they mattered in 2015, especially in their victory over the Horned Frogs. OU has several potent offenses on its schedule this season — Houston, TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State to name a few. The Sooners lost their best defensive back, three of four starting linebackers and their anchor on the defensive line this offseason. This feels like a season capable of producing a couple of shootouts.