Happy Friday, friends and fans! While the temperature is dropping, the Hot Links aren’t stopping! Okay, I may or may not hate myself for that, but you get the idea. Anyway, the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team has been churning right along for the most part through the gauntlet that is the Big 12 Conference. Tomorrow will bring another monster showdown as No. 16 TCU comes to Norman for round 2! But before that, the team paid a visit to Truman Primary in Norman today, and the children loved seeing the Sooners take a break from practice to have a little fun.

It looks like Trae Young wanted to win so badly, but the mouthful of marshmallows was too much to overcome. After Young couldn’t meet the challenge, freshman center Hannes Pöllä was declared the victor. Hannes is a very large man, so this is no upset.

I feel like I would have such bad luck with this game. By the looks of it, Trae Young had some misfortune with the whipped cream, too. Stay tuned for the end, when assistant coach Chris Crutchfield has obvious reservations about the whole thing. Eventually he plays along, albeit reluctantly. He just had to get a pie to the face, right?

Judging from the reactions of the kids, it was a total success. I know I would have flipped out if I was able to meet Trae Young and crew back when I was in elementary school. It’s all about the little things, and giving back to the community in any way you can. Good job, Sooners.

For today’s edition of Hot Links, Drake Stoops is coming to OU, Trae Young leads the way for the Wooden Award, lefty punters may have a distinct advantage in Foxborough and more!

OU Links

• Norman North wide receiver Drake Stoops, son of Bob Stoops, has committed to play as a preferred walk-on for Oklahoma. Looking down the road, it’ll be a great moment to finally see a Stoops on the field if/when he gets his chance.
• Oklahoma keeps moving on up! Check out Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, where he has the Sooners as a two-seed if the NCAA tournament started today.

• Trae Young leads the way for ESPN’s Wooden Award midseason top 25. Young has not only been riveting, he’s been consistent. I’m willing to bet Trae Young has a wider margin of victory than Baker Mayfield did winning the Heisman Trophy if Young keeps this up and the Sooners keep winning.
• Dick Vitale shared his thoughts about Trae Young and the Wooden Award list. It’s awesome that I can hear Dickie V’s voice in his tweets. “Sensational!”

• Baker Mayfield also made a list. ESPN’s David Hale complied the weirdest and most wonderful things from the 2017 college football season, and at least a couple things Mayfield did throughout the season were recognized.
• Speaking of Mayfield, the great Gil Brandt is a fan.

• Did Oklahoma’s kicking game cost the Sooners the Rose Bowl? I’m going to go ahead and answer no. Sure, it wasn’t perfectly executed at times, and the decision to squib before the half instead of going with the automatic touchback still perplexes me a bit, but letting a team run the way Georgia ran on Oklahoma was by far the most costly thing.
• Lon Kruger talks about Trae Young and how great he’s been in a short amount of time. It’s really great stuff, and if you have iTunes, check out this link for the full interview.

• Kristian Doolittle has had to adapt on the fly to find his groove after sitting out the fall semester for academic suspension and then dealing with a concussion in late December. Now Doolittle is starting to resemble the kind of player he was last season — a legitimate contributor.
• ICYMI, some notable 2018 prospects will be in town this weekend.
• Be sure to check out the top plays of the 2017 season compiled by yours truly! There were so many great moments on the field for this team, so it was quite the challenge, but I think I’m confident that the best of the best is at least somewhere on the list.

Around the Sports World

• Baylor head coach Matt Rhule will remain in Waco for the coming season. It was reported earlier that Rhule interviewed for a position with the Indianapolis Colts. Rhule went 1-11 in his first season at Baylor.

• LSU has hired Steve Ensminger as offensive coordinator. Ensminger made a nice impression with the media by telling them what he thinks about what is said about him (slightly NSFW audio at the end).
• New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has used left-footed punters for most of his time as the Pats head man. So why is this? Well, there’s actually a science behind it, and it might be significant enough to give them a competitive advantage, especially at home in Gillette Stadium.
• Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey has a bottle of ‘Secret Stuff’ in his locker. If that sounds familiar to you, it might be because you’ve seen it before. Think Space Jam.
• Is this the most disrespectful soccer move ever? I don’t know about that, but this is awesome to watch over and over again.

Stick to Sports!

• This pup has a better gig than most people I know! Riley gets to check out an awesome museum every day, and he has a cool badge so you know it’s official. Great job, little guy!

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