Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, friends and fans! It was quite the wild weekend in sports with the Oklahoma Sooners prevailing in an overtime classic over TCU on Saturday. Then yesterday the NFL was at peak frenzy with the thrilling Vikings win over the Saints. After all the festivities, it’s a great time to take a breath and reflect on the significance of what this day represents.

Tonight at 7:30, the University of Oklahoma Athletics Department will be hosting a special event to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event is open to the public, and there will be a series of performances and demonstrations designed to educate and inspire all in attendance, as well as commemorate Dr. King’s mission. For more information on the program, check out the link below.

If you are able to attend this function, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s sure to be a rewarding experience.

Now for today’s edition of Hot Links, Trae Young earns more player of the week honors, Buddy Hield returns to Oklahoma, a Florida politician makes the case for UCF and USF as Big 12 expansion candidates and more!

OU Links

• If football is the only collegiate sport you normally watch, I’m here to tell you that you should definitely do something about that as soon as possible. March Madness is around the corner, but don’t wait until then to start watching college basketball. Trae Young is doing incredible things every time he steps on the court, and he won’t be around forever.
• Speaking of this hoops team and its success, the Sooners are up to No. 4 in this week’s AP Poll.
• Once again, Trae Young has been named the NCAA Player of the Week. Even against some of the toughest defenses in Division 1, and in the toughest conference in the nation, Young continues to put up numbers at an unprecedented rate. As Young goes, so too the Sooners go, and so far Oklahoma has worked its way towards the top of the Big 12 race.

• The accolades just keep coming for Young. The dude is doing big things, people, I’m telling you.

• In Dick Vitale’s weekly awards, Dickie V named the Oklahoma Sooners his team of the week after defeating two ranked teams in Texas Tech and TCU, and he also named Trae Young his ‘Diaper Dandy’ of the week for his incredible performance against the Horned Frogs.
• Former Sooner and current Sacramento King Buddy Hield stopped by yesterday to see the team. You could tell the guys all look up to Buddy for what he accomplished in his time in Norman. Hield also shared his thoughts on how the team looks this season and what he thinks of the Trae Young frenzy.

• Kristian Doolittle turned in his best outing of the season on Saturday after missing 12 games to begin the 2017-18 campaign. Working on getting up to game speed has been the biggest adjustment, but Doolittle is showing that he’s nearly all the way back to his peak form.
• Bedlam on ESPN, folks. The entire college basketball world should be watching Trae Young and the Oklahoma Sooners.

• Former Sooner cornerback Aaron Colvin has quietly had a monster season for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Owasso product was a standout in the Sooner secondary for years, so it’s nice to see him have this level of success in the league.

• A former Sooner is now guaranteed to win this season’s Super Bowl. Out of the four teams that are left in the playoffs, check out which players once donned the crimson and cream.

Around the Sports World

• The Memphis Grizzlies, from the city where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, always do MLK Day justice. Check out the threads they’ll be wearing in today’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. For more on the significance of the look, check this out.

• Take a listen to the Minnesota radio call as the Vikings pulled off the stunning win over the New Orleans Saints. Great stuff that should remind us all why we love being fans.
• Oh, and there’s this:

• Now that it’s the season of reflection and prognostication, take a look back at 99 of the best and weirdest things from the 2017-18 college football season.
• If the Big 12 Conference decides to expand, should UCF and USF be considered as a package deal? I’m thinking yes. If geographic outlier West Virginia is here to stay, then why not? Again, that’s if the league expands.
• So the Arizona Wildcats hired Kevin Sumlin. Now I’m wondering who got the better coach: Arizona State with Herm Edwards, or Arizona with Sumlin? JK, I’m not wondering at all. What was ASU thinking?
• Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell correctly predicted the 45-42 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and now I’m wondering if psychics really exist.

Stick to Sports!

• Something that is important to always be mindful of is the ‘student’ part in our student-athletes. Education has always been an invaluable commodity, and much of the progress that has been made in terms of access has come through the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the others who have followed in his footsteps.

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