Hello once again, everyone!

The Oklahoma Sooners’ 2019 football schedule has just been officially released. The regular season will kick off August 31st in Norman against Houston.

A few thoughts:

• Oklahoma’s 2019 non-conference schedule — at least on paper — might be one of the weakest we’ve seen in years. UCLA needs to improve dramatically in its second year under Chip Kelly to gain respectability, and the FCS game against South Dakota obviously isn’t going to impress the playoff committee.
• There are two bye weeks in the season — one before the start of conference play and the other before the Iowa State game in November. Solid timing for both.
• Bedlam returns as the regular season finale. It hasn’t always been the case in history, but when it’s been at the end, it’s just felt right (at least since the OU-Nebraska rivalry was effectively ruined during various realignment phases).

Now let’s get started on today’s Hot Links! Lincoln Riley is on a coach of the year watch list, Ronnie Perkins continues to impress, Boban Marjanovic makes tall people look not-so-tall, and more!

OU Links

• Lincoln Riley is one of 20 head coaches to be named to the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Watch List. Congratulations, Lincoln!

• The goal for the defense in the second half of the season is to improve across the board, but which players could see the most growth now that Ruffin McNeill is leading the way?
• True freshman defensive end Ronnie Perkins has stood out as one of the top newcomers through the first half of the 2018 season. His coaches and teammates are confident that with more playing time, he will continue to flourish.
• One of the special things about Baker Mayfield was his ability to galvanize his teams following a loss. Now it’s up to Kyler Murray to do the same, but he’ll also have to do it in his own way.
• How can TCU slow down Oklahoma’s high-powered offense this Saturday? Just like every other season, Gary Patterson will have his hands full with Lincoln Riley’s dynamic system.

Around the Sports World

• SiriusXM and the Big 12 are linking up to create a 24-hour radio station with content dedicated exclusively to the Big 12. The satellite broadcast will launch October 22nd.
• Baylor and Texas Tech are going back to home-and-home scheduling in 2019. The two schools haven’t played on either team’s home field since 2008 at Texas Tech.

• Wait, did he just dunk without even jumping? On a 10-foot basket? Against NBA players? Boban Marjanovic, you sir are unreal.

Stick to Sports!

• China plans to launch an artificial moon into the sky in an effort to replace street lamps. If successful, the expensive endeavor would be a more environmentally efficient way of lighting up the night. The illuminated moon is expected to go up in 2020.

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