Happy Monday, friends and fans!

Lincoln Riley caught up with Dan Patrick for an interview on Monday morning, and the answer to the No. 1 question everybody has been wondering about has finally come to light.

Who is the best quarterback to come out of Muleshoe High School?

In all seriousness, the lead man for the Oklahoma Sooners had fun chatting with Patrick as usual. In the interview, Riley discussed how he felt moments before the four playoff teams were revealed, described the kind of player Kyler Murray is, discussed whether or not he feels obligated to listen to NFL offers, and more!

Now onto this week’ Monday edition of Hot Links! Kyler Murray takes the lead in the Heisman race in ESPN’s poll, Oklahoma wins a bunch of land from Texas, Hootie & the Blowfish are back and more!

OU Links

• It’s been another incredible season with everything left to play for. Look back on some of the most memorable moments from each stop along the way in this sweet Sooner montage.

• The iconic Seed Sower on the University of Oklahoma’s campus is harvesting oranges this winter. I love this.

• Kyler Murray now leads Tua Tagovailoa and the rest of the field in ESPN’s final Heisman Experts’ Poll. The Heisman Trophy finalists will be announced tonight, and the award presentation will be this Saturday.

• Very promising news for Marquise Brown following him leaving the Big 12 Championship game in a boot. If he’s able to return for the semifinal, that would be a major boost to Oklahoma’s upset chances.

• It’s been a while, but after defeating Texas for the Big 12 Championship, Oklahoma finally has territory on the College Football Empires Map! Naturally, undefeated Alabama controls a tremendous amount of real estate, but with these two crimson powerhouses going head to head in the Orange Bowl, one team will see their kingdom expand like never before.

• Trey Sermon made his return to the Sooners’ backfield on Saturday after seeing a small amount of action against West Virginia, and for the most part he looked like the ‘Preacherman’ of old. According to PFF, he’s one of the nation’s best at breaking tackles, so having his services at 100% would be extremely helpful against Alabama.

• Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game between Oklahoma and Alabama at the end of the month, so Herbstreit won’t be able to pick a winner for the game. He did however share his expectations for how it’ll play out.

• Coaching searches continue to develop as the month of December carries on. Oklahoma first-year assistant Shane Beamer’s name has been connected to the vacant East Carolina position, along with former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones.
• By virtue of winning the Heisman last season, Baker Mayfield is now and forever will be a Heisman Trophy voter. He cast his ballot recently, and you might (not) be surprised to find out who he voted for.
• Some of the coaches, including Lincoln Riley, went on recruiting trips on Sunday, and one of those trips was to see five-star WR commit Theo Wease Jr. If he indeed signs (no reason to think he won’t), this guy has a great chance to be the next big thing in Riley’s offense.

• Lincoln Riley, Dennis Simmons and Cale Gundy also caught up with four-star TE commit Austin Stogner and WR commit Trejan Bridges. This reminds me... I still need to put my Christmas tree up.

New T-Shirt from BreakingT!

• White print on a super-comfortable crimson tee.
• Premium, lightweight blended crewneck (60% cotton/40% polyester). Durable, yet ultra-soft.
• Unisex sizing with a snug fit. Men should size up; women should size down.
• Screened in the USA.
• Purchase the shirt here!

Around the Sports World

• Which 2018-19 bowl games are the most intriguing and which ones appear to be the most soporific? Here are all of this season’s bowls ranked by watchability.
• Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh says Rashan Gary will not play in the Peach Bowl against Florida as he prepares for the 2019 NFL Draft.
• The Chicago Bulls have fired head coach Fred Hoiberg. He was in his fourth season in Chicago and finished his coaching stint there with a career record of 115-155.
• Russell Okung, who actually attended Oklahoma State, used his Sunday Night Football player intro to claim his alma mater as Wakanda Tech. For those unaware, Wakanda is the fictional country in Marvel’s Black Panther. This is awesome.

• Several NFL teams either punched their playoff ticket or saw their postseason dreams go up in smoke on Sunday. Check out this list of the teams that already know if they’ll be preparing for a game following the regular season or if they’ll be gone fishing.

Stick to Sports!

• Three months after a botched Suyoz flight, three astronauts successfully launched into space this morning. On October 11th, the same model suffered a catastrophic anomaly with two riders on board — NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin. Just two and a half minutes after the Soyuz took off from Kazakhstan, the rocket broke apart 31 miles up. Fortunately, the two safely landed on Earth in their ejected capsule. Today, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko are aboard the flight.

Follow Crimson & Cream Machine on Twitter!