Happy Monday, friends and fans! We’re in the final week before it’s actually game week! There will be plenty of on-the-field news to talk about once we reach that point, but what’s happening off the field?
The Oklahoma Sooners recently hosted its annual event with the folks from the Special Olympics, and once again everyone involved had a blast. You can’t watch this without smiling. I promise.
Champions with champions.@SpecialOlympics #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/laIP4YPOTR
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) August 19, 2018
The passion these young fans have for the Sooners is unrivaled, and it’s such a joy to see the players having just as much fun dancing and taking pictures. Now I want to see Kyler Murray on the dance floor. We all know Baker Mayfield has the moves, but he’s all the way in Cleveland now. Again, such a special and humbling experience for the team. Boomer!
Now onto today’s Hot Links! Oklahoma’s offense might need a few weeks to rev up, Adrian Peterson meets with Washington, James Franklin is considered the most overrated head coach in the FBS by his peers and more!
OU Links
- With the current state of the Washington Redskins backfield being as rough as it is, they’ve decided to give 33-year-old future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson a look. Could he soon play in the same backfield as Samaje Perine? I’m not holding my breath, but that would be cool.
The #Redskins are hosting veteran RB Adrian Peterson, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. The Pro Bowler is an intriguing option for Washington.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 19, 2018
This picture will generate excitement pic.twitter.com/NHdIJ3bVJZ
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) August 20, 2018
- Don’t forget to check out the newly released preseason AP Poll. Oklahoma comes in at No. 7, along with three other Big 12 teams making the top-25 cut. It’s kind of a bummer that Oklahoma’s first opponent, Florida Atlantic, didn’t make the top 25, especially when they finished the 2017 season so strong. I’d say they deserve to be in there more than Texas does, but whatever. Also, Oklahoma extends its record for most top 10 preseason rankings.
The #Sooners (No. 7) are ranked inside the top 10 of the preseason AP Top 25 poll for the 48th time, which is a record. Ohio State (43) is second.
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) August 20, 2018
- Yahoo Sports also ranked Oklahoma at No. 7 in its preseason poll. The five to eight range seems to be the general consensus from my light perusing of the interwebs.
- The writers at CBS Sports dished on their picks for winning the Big 12, and all but one chose the Sooners to repeat as conference champs.
- If you haven’t read this piece yet, I absolutely recommend it. OU Daily’s George Stoia explored the rise of Brendan “Bookie” Radley-Hiles. As a true freshman who has yet to play a down in college, he carries with him an extraordinary amount of hype and hope. Trust me, you’ll be pumped after this.
- Tyler Palmateer provides five takeaways from the preseason up to this point, including a “soul-searching” offense and some minor defensive injuries.
- Like just about everybody, Mike Stoops thinks the new redshirt rule is a good one, but he offered a suggestion for amending it so that it would work for active players who qualified for it in previous seasons. Addison Gumbs is one of those players that would get a year back if this were implemented.
- The defensive line has to replace a number of highly productive players, but the young talent waiting in the wings could be enough to give the unit a boost.
Around the Sports World
- The Day 1 starter for Texas at quarterback has been decided. True sophomore Sam Ehlinger has won the job over junior Shane Buechele.
Tom Herman announces that Sam Ehlinger is QB1 vs. Maryland. He took bulk of first-team snaps today as game prep begins.
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) August 20, 2018
- The Cactus Bowl has been re-named the Cheez-It Bowl. The conference tie-ins for this bowl are the Big 12 and the Pac 12. Now I want some Cheez-Its. A bowl of ‘em, in fact.
Cheez-It Bowl is the new name for the Cactus Bowl. The bowl will be played Dec. 26 at 9 p.m. ET at Chase Field in Phoenix
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 20, 2018
- There are college football conspiracy theorists who believe the preseason AP Poll unfairly positions teams to make or not make the College Football Playoff, but after four years of evidence, it doesn’t appear that the committee really even pays much attention to the preseason polls.
- Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer to become the first winner of the Career Golden Masters. Djokovic now leads Federer in head-to-head matchups 24-22.
Pure GOLD
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 19, 2018
The moment @DjokerNole became the first ever winner of the Career Golden Masters. #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/27n8EAOCxj
- A collection of about 25 FBS head coaches anonymously gave their opinions about who they think are the most overrated and underrated coaches in the game today.
- You can usually tell a quarterback plays in the SEC based off of his name alone. Okay, not really, but there are some names that just sound super SEC-ish. Check out a list of the best SEC-sounding monikers in 2018.
Stick to Sports!
- Legendary British actor Michael Caine shed some mind-blowing insight from his role in Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film Inception, stating that Nolan told him every scene he was present in was real and not a dream, including the movie’s final scene. That confirms what many already believed, but the horror of it still being a dream has tormented fans of the movie for nearly a decade.
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