Oklahoma Sooners Hot Links: Four Sooners in the Sports Illustrated Top 100

It’s nearly July, which means we’re in for one more month of prediction and prognostication before the hard news of camps and press conferences begins anew. Sports Illustrated is always a fun follow this time of year, and they’ve kicked off the discussion with a list of the 100 best college football players for the upcoming season.

There are four Sooners on the list — the usual suspects of Baker Mayfield, Orlando Brown, Jordan Thomas and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo — but the Big 12 as a whole is scarce while schools like Alabama and Washington show up over and over again. The SI guys have a very high opinion of Baker Mayfield, who ranks as the country’s number two overall player and the best quarterback on the list.

(They’re also higher on Jordan Thomas, I suspect, than most Sooners fans.)

If he lives up to that ranking and the two defensive guys play their best, the rest of the conference will have a hard time keeping up with the Sooners this season.

OU Links

• ICYMI, here is Jack’s preview of The Opening finals where three Sooner commits will be showing off this weekend.
• Can Lincoln Riley succeed as both head coach and playcaller? He says he may never give up the playbook.
• Kameron McGusty says last year’s OU basketball team “didn’t work enough,” but the young team has big plans for this season.
• The Oklahoman explains how recruitment is changing things for Drake and Isaac Stoops, Bob Stoops’ twin boys who are set to begin their senior season at Norman North.

National Links

• Here’s a look back at A League of Their Own 25 years later. It’s still one of the best sports movies of all time.
• An important and highly necessary exploration of what exactly the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers’ Big Red mascot, you know, actually is.
• Ian Boyd argues here that the “spread vs. pro-style” offense debate has effectively been replaced by “pro-style vs. college-style.”
• Here’s a two-minute primer on The Opening finals that explains the Nike mega-event and its significance to the college football world.

‘STICK TO SPORTS!’

• OU tuition is going up again this year, meaning that, for current students, the summertime switch to Natty Light may have to become permanent.
• MTV News and FOX Sports both laid off a bunch of writers this week so they can focus on video. If I can rant for just a second, videos are great and all, but I don’t think good writing has ever been so scarce or so important. Sad to see that not everyone agrees. Thankfully, I know SB Nation would never do something like that — hey, hang on a second, the boss is calling. That’s weird? He never calls.

It’s actually true, Sooner Nation, that I will no longer be with C&C Machine as a full-time contributor moving forward — not because SB Nation is moving to video-only (like some other sites), but because my work schedule and personal life will conflict with OU football this fall (though if they think I’m working during the Ohio State game, they’re sorely mistaken).

I’ve only been with the website for about a year, but it’s been a fantastic privilege to be read by thousands and dive in deeper to the world of Sooner sports. I want to thank Jack and the other amazing contributors to this website for making me a better writer and fan.

Moving forward, I’ll pop up on here from time to time with some longform-ish pieces — it will be nice to have the time to explore OU sports more thoroughly.

I really admire the SB Nation model, which gives average fans like me a platform that used to be unimaginable. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity. C&C Machine is in great hands, and I know it’ll always be my first stop for all the latest news on Sooner sports. Boomer Sooner!