Here we go, Sooner fans! It’s Bedlam: baseball edition tonight in Norman! The Oklahoma Sooners host the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a non-conference matchup, so this won’t affect the Sooners’ pristine conference record (3-0). This rivalry is always a great challenge on the diamond with a ton of bragging rights on the line, so show your support if you can make the trip to L. Dale Mitchell Park or tune in to Fox Sports Oklahoma. Let’s go!

Now for today’s Hot Links. Gerald McCoy and Baker Mayfield linked up on the Oklahoma campus, Rodney ‘Jumpman’ Anderson can still jump super high, Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown expected Gus Johnson to be bigger and more!

OU Links

• Congratulations to junior third baseman Brylie Ware for being named Big 12 Player of the Week! Ware batted .562 and drove in nine RBIs in Oklahoma’s three-game sweep over West Virginia. This is the first time a Sooner has been named player of the week this season, and the second time Ware has been honored in his career at OU.

• Gerald McCoy returned to the campus of the University of Oklahoma to spend some time with Baker Mayfield. Man, just seeing these two guys together is awesome for me. I started diving deep into my passion for Oklahoma Football in 2007, McCoy’s first season as a starter.

• Lincoln Riley spoke about the newest addition to the coaching staff, Bob Diaco. Diaco is a former head coach with defensive coordinator roots (he was Notre Dame’s DC when the Irish came to Norman) and has now officially been hired as a defensive analyst.

• Kyler Murray has such a quiet confidence about him, but we all know how great he is and can be in whichever sport he is playing. Even though he’s juggling two sports at the same time (again), it hasn’t seemed to faze him.

• If Rodney Anderson keeps jumping like this, he’s eventually going to leave Earth’s orbit. My goodness, what an athletic freak of nature. Boomer!

• Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown finally got to meet Gus Johnson, the announcer who started Brown’s Hollywood nickname, and Brown’s reaction was hilarious. “Oh man.”

• Former Oklahoma head basketball coach Jeff Capel is reportedly becoming the next head man for Pitt. Since being let go by OU, Capel has spent the past seven years as an assistant at Duke, where he has helped his alma mater overtake John Calipari’s Kentucky program (to some degree) as the most dominant recruiting force in college basketball.

• President-elect James Gallogly has already met with several prominent figures from Oklahoma’s Athletics Department, and by all accounts, his knowledge of the state of Sooner sports across the board is somewhat impressive.
• Even though Gallogly hasn’t officially started his tenure yet, he’s already off to a nice start with the ‘horns down.’ I see you, Jim.

Around the Sports World

• Former UCLA head coach Jim Mora said if he was making the call for the Cleveland Browns, he’d take Sam Darnold with the first overall pick. What’s weird about that is Josh Rosen, the other highly rated QB in the draft, was his QB at UCLA. Salty, much, or much ado about nothing?
• Speaking of the Browns, apparently Cleveland isn’t opposed to trading the No. 1 overall pick. A trade at the very top of the draft could have huge ramifications on the fate of several draftees.
• LiAngelo Ball, the middle son of the infamous (and extremely annoying) LaVar Ball, has declared for the NBA Draft, but there’s virtually no chance he’ll be selected at all. Why? Because he’s just not that good.
• Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not a fan of elaborate touchdown celebrations. Is this just crotchety get-off-my-lawn talk, or does he actually have a point?
• Loyola-Chicago’s Sister Jean has been one of the highlights of the March Madness season, but now Jalen Rose’s 100 year-old grandmother is taking shots at Sister Jean ahead of the Ramblers’ semifinal match against Michigan. Funny stuff right here.

Stick to Sports!

• An Apple education event is going on today in Chicago, and a new iPad has been introduced, using the Apple Pencil. It looks like a pretty neat device, and one of the bigger selling points is the price, especially for students ($299). If you’re the creative type, or know someone that is, you might want to look into this latest model in the line of tablets.

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