Hello, friends and fans! What a wild night it was for the Oklahoma Sooners. Trae Young was sensational as usual, but I’m also proud of guys like Christian James, Brady Manek and Jamuni McNeace for stepping up and making plays against the big, bad Kansas Jayhawks. Now it’s time for a small breather before Oklahoma takes on Alabama in the Big 12/SEC Challenge this weekend.

Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield is already in Alabama, and he fielded questions from the media following practice at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Now is it just me, or was every single one of Mayfield’s answers to these questions on point? The word going around has been about how Mayfield is going to impress a lot of people during the interview process, and he’s doing a superb job of that already.

I don’t know about you folks, but I can’t wait for this draft. No matter where Mayfield winds up, I know he’s going to feel like he has something to prove, which is when he’s at his absolute best. If you’re in charge of drafting a QB for your NFL team, do yourself a favor and don’t pass up on him. You’ve been warned.

Now onto the Hot Links, where you’ll learn about the changes Trae Young made to his game, what the odds are that Rodney Anderson wins the Heisman, which future non-conference football games are most anticipated and more!

OU Links

• Baker Mayfield has caught the attention of nearly every team near the top of the draft board. Denver Broncos VP and GM John Elway has been particularly interested in the Heisman Trophy winner, and now he’s finally able to get an up-close look at the man everybody is talking about.
• Here are Mayfield’s official measurements from the Senior Bowl physical assessment. Being measured at over six feet tall is a victory for him.

• Speaking of Mayfield and the Senior Bowl, did y’all hear about this Twitter clown who called his “personal family matter” into question?
• Trae Young and his teammates caught a bit of flack for their performances against Kansas State and Oklahoma State, but they proved last evening that those performances don’t come close to defining them.
• Young displayed his versatility in the big showdown against the Kansas Jayhawks by becoming a pass-first point guard. The Oklahoma offense was clicking on all cylinders with the way he played last night, so it’ll be vital that Young doesn’t shy away from that in future big games.
• This is pretty cool. Trae Young has accounted for exactly 1,000 points this season, whether he scored those points himself or assisted on those points. Do you think he can make it to 2,000 points before the end of the season? You’ll have to keep watching to find out!

• Trae Young now owns the school record for most made free throws by a freshman in a single season. This dude is going to leave the record books in ruins by the time he’s finished here. Wow.
• While Young’s status as a basketball super star grew last night, his teammates were elevated as well. Beating a program like Kansas ups the psyche of everybody involved, and builds confidence for future big stages.
• Lon Kruger and Matt Freeman went with the hack-a-’buike strategy and it paid off. Going forward, Bill Self is going to have to adjust how he deals with Udoka Azubuike’s terrible free throw shooting.
• So what does the win over the Jayhawks mean for the rest of the season going forward?
• According to Bovada, Rodney Anderson has 25/1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy next season, which is second best for a running back. Where’s Kyler Murray?

• Non-conference scheduling has always been a strength for the Oklahoma Sooners. In the upcoming out-of-conference matchups across the nation, the Sooners are featured prominently among the premier games.
• It looks like Will Sunderland is getting closer to finding a new home:

Around the Sports World

• Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher has been assembling quite the coaching staff since he arrived in College Station, but apparently former OU defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, who would have been one of his more significant additions, has decided to remain in Green Bay. Montgomery is not just a great coach because he’s also a terrific recruiter, so this is just a shame. A real shame, I tell ya.

• Josh Allen actually wants to be drafted to the Cleveland Browns? I say take him then. To be honest, I really just don’t see it with this Allen guy. Sure he looks like an NFL guy in stature, but do accuracy and, yanno, winning mean anything at all anymore?
• So who were the biggest snubs from the NBA All-Star selections? Paul George is a player many felt should have been named an All-Star, but with so much depth in the West and with so few spots, somebody great is always going to be left out.
• Urban Meyer’s daughter Gigi refereed this uh . . . what I hesitate to call an actual game. In any case, she threw some flags and this one dude was lit up over and over again. Crazy kiddos.

• For all of you ‘Friday Night Lights’ fans, you’re going to get a kick out of this one. So in season four of the critically acclaimed series, Tim Riggins is a high school football super star, but quite literally walks out on his college career before it ever really began. Maybe the program just wasn't the right one. If that’s the case, which real life collegiate program would have better suited the renegade fullback?

Stick to Sports!

• In an act that has restored my faith in humanity, Montgomery, Alabama locals held a candlelit vigil to collectively mourn the loss of a Taco Bell establishment. This beloved Taco Bell was a special place that brought beans, cheese and happiness to all it served before tragically catching fire and burning down.

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