Oklahoma Sooners Football Hot Links: Is David Boren retiring?

Last evening, OU Twitter was rocked by rumblings of a possible retirement announcement from David Boren. Barstool Sooners and The Football Brainiacs reported on Tuesday night that the University of Oklahoma president would retire today. This morning, Boren himself tweeted that there would be an “important announcement” this afternoon.

According to Guerin Emig of the Tulsa World, sources have told him that Boren will announce Wednesday that the 2017-18 academic year will be his last. We’ll just have to wait until 2 p.m. to get the official word from Boren. I just hop that this isn’t his announcement:

Regardless of the timetable for his potential retirement, this is a pretty big moment for both OU and the Big 12. Boren has seemed like the lone force that has kept the conference intact (relatively speaking). At his age, the chances of him sticking around until the Big 12 GOR expired (2025) were never good, but an exit this early could potentially have an impact.

OU Links:

• ICYMI, the Oklahoma Sooners will be wearing alternate uniforms this Saturday at Baylor. They’ll be going with the all-cream combo, which is adequate but not the best.
• OU’s 2017-18 basketball TV schedule has been officially finalized. 25 games will be on the ESPN family of networks, while six non-conference games will be televised on SoonerSports TV.
• Speaking of hoops, OU basketball may have a new home (for games, at least) in the near future. The arena would be six miles away from campus, but it would be much more convenient for fans traveling from OKC. This would be a major upgrade compared to the LNC, and I don’t think it would necessarily have too be a long-term arrangement. OU could potentially play home games up there for 5-10 while they secure funds for a new on-campus arena. I’m not sure it would actually go down that way, but that seems like the ideal situation to me.
• Lincoln Riley’s official contract details have been released, and it seems like some nice perks and incentives are involved (which was to be expected). I just want to know which club his golf memberships are for. Are the two memberships for he and his wife, or is he now a member of two gold clubs? I have to find out...
• Apparently Lincoln Riley’s call to Walt Anderson regarding the bad targeting call came soon after the game driving home on Highway 9 in Norman. We’re just as mad as you are, Lincoln.

National Links:

• Here are seven stats from Bill Connelly to help explain the state of college football through Week 3. No love for OU this week, unfortunately.
• So I guess Vanderbilt “wants Bama”. Good luck with that, Vandy.
• Oklahoma state is a double-digit home favorite this weekend against TCU. I wouldn’t sleep on the Frogs like that, but I could picture a blowout at the same time. My gambling pick on that one will be a tough call.
• Former five-star recruit Byron Cowart is transferring form Auburn, which just goes to show that five-stars don’t always pan out.
• Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop tried to explain what happened to Tennessee’s secondary on the Hail Mary against Florida last Saturday. It’s actually a bit more complicated than you’d think, but it’s still inexcusable.

“STICK TO SPORTS!”

• This “smart dog food scooper” can do all sorts of things, such as letting you know if someone else has already fed your dog. What a time to be alive.
• Jason Isbell will play a show at The Criterion in OKC this weekend (which I’ll obviously be attending), and he did a really good interview with The Oklahoman recently. If you haven’t listened to him, check him out.