Hot Links: National Signing Day, Jeffrey Mead, Basketball Woes, and more

Hang in there, Sooners fans—almost to Friday!

If you live in the Oklahoma City metro, I wish you luck in whatever combination of rain/ice/sleet/snow/tornadoes we endure in the coming days.

OU Links

• ESPN’s Jake Trotter details which pieces the Sooners need for next season. He mostly talks offense, but he brings up a great point: OU needs an inside force to pair with linebackers Caleb Kelley and Obo Okoronkwo.
• One area Trotter cited is the receiving corps, especially in the absence of DeDe Westbrook. NEWSOK.com’s Brooke Pryor wrote a piece about one such receiver who could be the next Sterling Shepard or DeDe Westbrook.
• Pro Football Focus has announced their 2016 season award winners. DeDe Westbrook and Baker Mayfield cleaned up pretty well.
• Unfortunately, Oklahoma basketball hasn’t made an easy transition from losing Buddy Hield and other key cogs. Unfortunately, OU made the cut as one of college basketball’s biggest disappointments.

National Links

• What a mess 2016 was—and I’m purely talking football here. It seemed as if the SEC and Pac-12 were poised to be the dominant conferences of the season, and seemed to retain that position even towards the end. However, both conference’s dismal performances combined with the dominance of the ACC means we may have a new king. College football gaining more parity is never, ever a bad thing.
• As national signing day looms—Wednesday, February 1st is the day—take a look at the most seven most important schools to keep an eye on. As you might predict, Oklahoma made the cut.
• Two offensive coordinators made headlines with their surprising moves today as the coaching carousel begins to wind down. First, Auburn OC Rhet Lashlee is packing his bags to take the same position at Connecticut. Next, in our own conference, TCU co-coordinator Doug Meacham is leaving for—you guessed it—the same spot at an inferior school. This time, it’s Kansas. Strange times indeed.

“Stick to sports!”

• “Her?” Yep, she’s back, along with the rest of the Arrested Development crew for another season, much to the delight of myself and other fans. Thought the AD writers might have run out of jokes by now? "Whoa, whoa, whoa. There's still plenty of meat on that bone!”
• Famous music festival Bonnaroo released this year’s lineup, and, frankly, it’s trash. I hate to be one of those people who always say ‘I SWEAR it used to be better,’ but in this case, it’s true. There are some highlights (I’m a huge fan of Chance the Rapper, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Car Seat Headrest), but it’s not worth the arm and the leg—trust me.
• A Buffalo woman called the police to ask them to stop the wind from blowing. Having spent all of my life in Oklahoma: THIS. IS. DAMN. RELATABLE.