What’s up, everyone?

BetOnline has released early spreads for some of college football’s biggest games in 2019. Three games involving the Oklahoma Sooners appear on the release, with some very interesting observations to be had.

When the Sooners travel to UCLA in September, it’ll be a nice matchup of brand names, but if Oklahoma plays anywhere close to its potential, I don’t see that -11.5 being high enough.

The most perplexing opening spread is for the Red River Shootout/Rivalry/Showdown/whatever against Texas. Oklahoma ought to be favored, all things considered, but 17 points is just way too steep for any sane Sooner or Longhorn to actually buy into. Could the game end up as a blowout? Sure, but this has always been one of those rivalry games that is usually up in the air in the fourth quarter (at least in recent years). If OU’s offense isn’t as potent as it was last year, or the defense hasn’t vastly improved, it’ll be tough to beat UT by such a margin.

For what it’s worth, the matchup no longer appears to be on BetOnline’s board (as of publishing, at least).

Finally, when Oklahoma hosts TCU in late November, the spread opened astronomically high at a whopping -21 (already down to -15 as of publishing). Even in TCU’s down years, like last season, the Horned Frogs are still coached by Gary Patterson. Lincoln Riley has had success against the defensive guru, but it’s been challenging nonetheless. Since that game comes at the tail end of the campaign, there’s obviously more opportunity for movement.

Now for today’s Hot Links! Michael Thompson is adjusting to the offensive line this spring, Adrian Peterson plays for the love of the game, Mike Trout is getting PAID and more!

OU Links

• After coming to Oklahoma as a highly-rated defensive tackle prospect, he was sidelined with an ACL injury before the 2018 season began. Now he’s made the switch to offensive line, but the adjustment is coming along gradually, writes OUInsider’s Joey Helmer.
• If one were to rank the college basketball coaches whose teams are in this year’s NCAA Tournament in order of how good they were as players, where would Oklahoma’s Lon Kruger wind up? Spoiler alert: out of 68 coaches, the two-time Big Eight Player of the Year is near the top. Let’s go, Lon!
• Our friends over at Red Cup Rebellion are liking their Ole Miss Rebels’ chances in the first-round matchup, which is... pretty understandable.

• More Big 12 weekly honors for a pair of Sooners this week, as Caleigh Clifton was named Big 12 Player of the Week and Giselle Juarez was named Big 12 co-pitcher of the Week. Boomer!

• Sooner baseball is in Albuquerque today and tomorrow to take on the Lobos of New Mexico. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

• Oklahoma is playing host to the Big 12 Championship meet this Saturday. If you want to come show your support by watching the No. 1 Sooners compete for an eighth straight conference crown, check out ticket information in the link below.

• Now that Adrian Peterson has inked a contract extension with Washington, the seasoned veteran took some time to reflect back on last year and talked about why he continues to play.

• SB Nation’s Bud Elliot caught up with five-star CB prospect Kelee Ringo out of Scottsdale, AZ. The highly-touted recruit has expressed legitimate interest in Oklahoma, with Texas and Ohio State also squarely on his radar.

Around the Sports World

• It would appear the chase for Mike Trout is over, as his Los Angeles Angels will maintain his services. All they had to do was pitch him the biggest contract in professional sports history — $430 million over 12 years. That’s nearly half a billion bucks, boys and girls. Stunning.

• Dirk Nowitzki passed Wilt Chamberlain for 6th place on the all-time NBA scoring chart. Of course he did it in classic Dirk fashion, too. Good Stuff.

• ESPN completely dropped the ball when somebody leaked the NCAA Women’s Tournament bracket hours before it was scheduled to be revealed during a special selection show. Pivots were had, apologies were made, and watch parties were cancelled. What a disaster, and a real shame for all those teams and fans who didn’t get to experience that suspenseful and joyful moment.
• Who are the best players to keep an eye out for during the 2019 NCAA Tournament? Check out this list of the top 50 players in the Big Dance, with the one and only Zion Williamson naturally leading the way.
• Chubbs the cat is back to dominate the March Madness bracket circuit. Last year, he was the only expert to successfully predict Virginia becoming the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a 16. Folks, Chubbs word is good, and it is final.

Stick to Sports!

• The historic Disney-Fox merger is all but official, and in just hours Walt Disney Studios will absorb 21st Century Fox and everything it owns the rights to. This is especially big news for comic book fans like me, who have been eagerly awaiting to see characters from the X-Men and the Fantastic Four franchises merge with the Avengers and all of their constituents. Now this doesn’t mean Fox is just going to disappear, rather it now falls under a large umbrella adorned with Mickey Mouse ears. More freedom and less hoops to jump through for all kinds of projects? Sign me up and take my money.

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