It’s official — in 2032, the Oklahoma Sooners will host the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Palace on the Prairie. For the following year, the latter portion of the home-and-home series will shift to Tuscaloosa.

What a potentially epic stretch of non-conference scheduling the years 2032-2036 could be for Oklahoma! To recap, in 32-33 it’s two games against Alabama, and in 35-36 it’s back-to-back against Clemson. All that’s left is to fill 2034 with another elite powerhouse (perhaps with a neutral-field game) and this has the chance to be the strongest five-year run of non-con games ever. In fact, it could actually be a great six-year stretch, as OU is reportedly working to secure a home-and-home with Georgia (Norman in 2023 and Athens in 2031). You could even argue for an impressive eight-year stretch if you’re hopeful for Nebraska’s (2029-30) future, or you could go further and include LSU (2027-28) in the equation if you’re confident that it will happen (still hasn’t officially been announced by OU). Then there’s Michigan in 2025-26... actually, let’s just go with “OU always schedules great non-conference matchups” and just leave it at that. Of course, each program needs to hold up its end of the bargain and not fall apart when the time finally comes.

Since this series with the Tide is 13-14 years away, there’s a very real chance Nick Saban, 67, is no longer Alabama’s head coach. Still, ‘Bama’s a blueblood program for a reason, so the magnitude of those games could still be off the charts. Hopefully Lincoln Riley is still around and has the Sooners among the nation’s elite.

Now for today’s Hot Links! Caleigh Clifton is rewarded for her scintillating week, Ty Lazenby is transferring, meteorologists put each other on blast over clouds and such and more!

OU Links

• It’s not a comparison I’ve seen many people make during these months leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft, but Doug Flutie and Kyler Murray have a bit common. Sure, Flutie wasn’t the pure athlete Murray is, but both are 5’10”, possess surprisingly strong arms, and are as competitive as they come. Of course, both are also Heisman Trophy winners.

• Kyler Murray is headed to Arizona for another meeting with the Cardinals. A couple weeks ago, the two parties met up in Norman to talk about which jersey number he wants who knows what.
• Caleigh Clifton is having one heck of a senior season, and she’s just been named Big 12 Player of the Week after an incredibly hot streak of hitting.

• Oklahoma Baseball hosts Texas Southern tonight at 5:30 p.m. CT. If you’re not going to be at L. Dale Mitchell, you can catch all the action either on Fox Sports Oklahoma Plus or Sportstalk 1400AM/99.3 FM.

• Junior Ty Lazenby has announced his intention to transfer to Oral Roberts after two seasons on the Oklahoma men’s basketball team. Before OU, the Glencoe, Okla. native was a JUCO All-American at Northern Oklahoma College Enid. Good luck at ORU, Ty!

• It must feel pretty nice to be a Cleveland Browns fan right now. A budding star in the NFL at QB with a strong work ethic and a great sense of humor... never change, Baker Mayfield.

Around the Sports World

• Virginia beat Texas Tech in OT to win the national championship, but it was a call made down the stretch of the extra period that muddied the result. Technically, the refs made the right call through extensive video replay, but in doing so went against the spirit of the game.
• Now that the 2018-19 college basketball season is officially over, what could next season’s top 35 look like?
• I’m a sucker for a good impression, and Conor Moore, known for his impressionist comedy, absolutely nails the big names competing at The Masters. It was hard for me to pick a favorite until he got to Tiger Woods. If I closed my eyes I could have sworn that was him talking.

• Ronald Ollie, the comic relief and heart of the first season of Netflix’s ‘Last Chance U’, is getting set for the 2019 NFL Draft, and although he doesn’t expect he’ll hear his name called, that’s not going to keep him from following his dream of becoming a pro football player.
• I highly recommend everybody watch this ad from Budweiser for the retiring Dwyane Wade. I don’t want to say too much on it, but wow. Best thing I’ve seen in a while.

Stick to Sports!

• Can it officially be Tornado Season if there haven’t been any confirmed tornadoes yet? A few days ago, local meteorologist Damon Lane claimed Oklahoma’s first tornado had been spotted, and even provided (questionable) image and video evidence. Ultimately, it turned out to be rather inconclusive. Others in the business, particularly Mike Morgan and the retired Gary England, were quick to point out the error and called Lane out. All this drama and the weather isn’t even severe... yet.

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