Happy Friday, friends and fans!

Patty Gasso and the Oklahoma Sooners softball team are in Oklahoma City today for the Big 12 Tournament. Top-seeded OU is seeking its fourth consecutive conference tourney title all while building on a program-best 38-game winning streak.

Each team in the tournament will play two games on Friday, and one more on Saturday. Oklahoma’s first opponent is Texas Tech at 2:00 p.m. CT, then at approximately 7:30 p.m. CT, the Sooners will take on Kansas. Both games will be televised on Fox College Sports.

The Big 12 Tournament is played at USA Hall of Fame Stadium, which is the same venue where the Women’s College World Series is held. It should be an exciting month on the diamond as the Sooners’ postseason officially begins where it will hopefully end in OKC!

Now for this week’s Friday edition of Hot Links! Kyler Murray inks a deal with Arizona, there’s Bedlam Baseball in Tulsa, Aaron Judge likes Arya Stark almost as much as Gendry does and more!

OU Links

• The OU Board of Regents met on Friday, and — as expected — alcohol sales and advertising have been approved for football games and other athletic events. This will also continue for other sporting events like men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.

• Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals have made it official. The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $35.1M deal on Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport.

• Whoever created this graphic wanted to twist the dagger in the Oakland Athletics’ side a little bit more. Still, it’s further proof that the NFL was the right choice for Murray from a financial point of view.

• Former Sooners OT Bobby Evans was interviewed recently about how his life has changed and what he’s looking forward to most since being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams.

• We’ve got Bedlam baseball beginning today in Tulsa. Oklahoma looks to put an end to its eight-game losing streak to Oklahoma State. The last time the Sooners defeated the Cowboys was in 2016 in T-town, so perhaps this is the time and place for OU to get back into the win column. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

• OU Daily’s George Stoia put together this in-depth, inside look at how head injuries have affected the lives of a few former Oklahoma football players, including the great safety Rickey Dixon. The three-part series also features AD Joe Castiglione, who shared his thoughts on the future of America’s flagship sport.

Around the Sports World

• Last night’s fracas between Will Barton and Seth Curry is a skirmish nobody asked for, but it does make Game 7 a little bit more interesting.

• The Houston Rockets host the Golden State Warriors tonight in a do-or-die Game 6 situation, and it will be the first game in the series not featuring Kevin Durant. So how exactly does his absence change things up?
• Brazilian soccer star Neymar has been suspended three games after he got into an altercation with a fan following PSG’s defeat in the French Cup Final.
• An NFL season only lasts about five months, so for more than half the year players are either using their time to prepare for the next season or to get away from the game altogether. Here’s what a typical offseason schedule looks like for today’s generation of players.
• The caption on this tweet and the shirt Aaron Judge is wearing is the reason I get out of bed every morning. Gold star.

Stick to Sports!

• A fourth installation to the Matrix film franchise could be in the works, according to John Wick 3 director Chad Stahelski. The original movies were directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski, while Stahelski was actor Keanu Reeves’ stunt double back then. Now those two are making box office hits with the Wick series. I know I’d like to see them all team up again if another Matrix is in fact on the way.

Follow Crimson & Cream Machine on Twitter!