Oklahoma Sooners Hot Links: The Big 12 is Dead, Long Live the Big 12

If you were waiting on the Sooners to bolt from the Big 12, it looks as if you’re going to have to wait a bit. It’s not that OU is necessarily loyal to their conference — it’s just that they need the dominoes to fall first.

The next ‘domino’ to fall would be the Big 10, it would appear, and David Boren stopped just short of saying that the Sooners are primed to join the conference when its rights deal expires:

For a nitty-gritty analysis, read Guerin Emig’s article on Boren’s press availability. Guerin does a good job of cutting through Boren’s political talk and figuring out what the hell he actually means.

Obviously, Oklahoma’s M.O. is to stay in the best version of the Big 12: one that’s profitable, competitive, and consistently puts players into the league. The money is equitable in the Big 12; it’s just that the conference’s perception is plummeting as is.

If the move does indeed happen, OU’s departure from the Big 12 will be a messy one. The difference is that now there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

OU Links:

• With all of this conference hullabaloo, there’s an easy solution: why doesn’t OU just join every conference?
• With his new extension, it’s looking more and more likely that Lincoln Riley will be Bob Stoops’ successor when Bob decides to hang it up.
• Ringleader Jack Shields joined the Two Stripes podcast to talk all things OU football — namely, the state of the program moving forward, names to watch at skill positions, and why the Sooners are headed to the College Football Playoff. FYI, this was recorded before the Lincoln Riley news came out.

• ICYMI: the Sooners notched a 2018 cornerback commitment in Starrland Baldwin. Graham Dudley explains how Baldwin’s services will help out in the secondary.
• Could Joe Mixon be the starter straight out of the gate for the Bengals? It looks like it’ll be running back by committee, but Mixon could get the majority of the snaps by the end of the year.

National Links:

• This has been the third time this story has gotten coverage in Hot Links, and I SWEAR it’s the last. The nude man who had previously been possibly identified as Florida head coach Jim McElwain has been identified as a former New York cop.
• I miss the NCAA Football series. If you do too, reading through these dynasty war stories is like chicken soup for the soul.
• The Spurs, sans their star Kawhi Leonard, absolutely blew James Harden and the Rockets away. As a Thunder fan, it was glorious.
• Check out all of Harden’s lowlights below:

• Bill Connelly writes that Iowa State has more upside than they have had since the days of Seneca Wallace.

‘STICK TO SPORTS!

• It makes no sense that the U.S has no national parks focused on grasslands or prairie biomes. As BBC shows, Mount Scott, for example, can be quite beautiful.
• Fleet Foxes are releasing a new album in June. If the singles are anything to judge by, it’s going to monumental: