Happy Monday, friends and fans! Today marks the final day of the 2017-18 college football season, but to be honest it feels like the season ended ages ago. In football-related news, the second and final signing window is just under a month away. The Oklahoma Sooners have been closing strong on the recruiting front and are in position for a second consecutive top-10 finish.

As for some news on the current team, Lincoln Riley was named the First-Year Coach of the Year by FWAA. This award has a strong history of successful head coaches, such as Urban Meyer, Jimbo Fisher and Chip Kelly. Also, middle linebacker Kenneth Murray was named a FWAA Freshman All-American last week. A big congratulations to the both of them!

For today’s edition of Hot Links, Du’Vonta Lampkin is surprisingly headed to the NFL Draft, Herschel Walker is all in on Baker Mayfield, Aaron Colvin records a sweet pick in a playoff game and more!

OU Links

• Oklahoma was unable to come away with the win in Morgantown, but that won’t stop this team from working towards the top. I see big things in store for this squad.

• Defensive tackle Du’Vonta Lampkin is reportedly forgoing his final two seasons of eligibility to enter into the 2018 NFL Draft. The decision, which was first reported by Carey Murdock last evening, has seemingly come out of nowhere, but we wish him the best of luck in his future. It’s definitely a big loss for Oklahoma.
• Herschel Walker says he’d take Baker Mayfield over any other quarterback in the draft. Walker also believes Mayfield is more like Brett Favre than Johnny Manziel.
• Former Sooner cornerback Aaron Colvin recorded this awesome interception on Wild Card weekend. His Jacksonville Jaguars also defeated the Buffalo Bills. Congratulations, Aaron!

• When it comes to recruiting pipelines, Oklahoma has hit the jackpot with Bradenton, Florida’s IMG Academy. Four-star running back T.J. Pledger and big-time cornerback Brendan Radley-Hiles are both California-natives-turned-IMG-products-turned-Sooners.
• Oklahoma has been piling up the defensive commitments like crazy as of late. After a season that repeatedly saw a need for an upgrade in defensive talent, it looks like the Sooners are finally trending in the right direction on that side of the ball.
• Jack also wrote about the defensive commitments and the much-needed joy they brought to the fan base.
• Four-star offensive tackle Brey Walker has never kept a low-profile because of his size. Now that he’s going to OU, the big, young man should fit right in.
• 2018 defensive tackle signee Jordan Kelley improved his game with the help of a former Oklahoma State Cowboy.

Around the Sports World

• So how many football national titles should your team claim? Since there’s never been a consistent method of determining the national champion throughout history, SB Nation’s Jason Kirk has come up with a system for finally getting to the bottom of the natty debate. At the end of the tally, some teams may have more or less titles than they currently claim.
• Well, this is interesting. Former OU DL coach Jerry Montgomery appears headed to Aggieland.

• The latest inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame have been announced. Mack Brown, Frank Beamer and Charles Woodson headline the group.
• Yeah, this has to be one of the best drives I’ve ever seen. No doubt Dustin Johnson had his Wheaties that morning.

• Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. I’ve never been in an arena for a finish like this, but it’s got to be a euphoric feeling. Props to Stanford’s Daejon Davis for coming up huge.

• NCAA basketball referee Ted ‘TV Teddy’ Valentine has been suspended two games for turning his back to UNC’s Joel Berry when Berry tried to discuss a call with him. Valentine has been involved in several incidents in the past and now his future in the profession could be called into question.
• Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton was asked about why he subbed Lonzo Ball out of the game at a particular moment last night and he had quite the response directed at Ball’s father, LaVar. Just a heads up, the language is NSFW. The comment was in jest, but I like the jab nonetheless.

Stick to Sports!

• Ever seen a frozen ocean? Yeah, me neither. The location in the video is Old Silver Beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts. I’m sure there’s already a word for this phenomenon, but I’m calling it ‘frocean’. Get it? I know, I know, settle down, folks. I’ll be here all week.

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