How’s it going, everyone?

Athlon Sports released it’s preseason college football ranking of all 130 FBS teams going into the 2019 season, and the Oklahoma Sooners check in at No. 6.

Each ranking is accompanied with a brief breakdown of the state of each team heading into the fall. Somewhere in the middle of the top 10 feels right at this time for OU, but the only team I question whether it should be ahead of Oklahoma is, of course, Michigan. Otherwise, it’s a relatively solid list.

What I also found interesting was that 10 of the Sooners’ 12 scheduled opponents are within the top half of the rankings, with Kansas (108) and South Dakota (FCS) not included in that group. This year’s slate seemingly won’t be the strongest schedule in the nation, but once again it should provide Oklahoma a decent test week after week while keeping its resume respectable.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! Phil Steele expresses his concerns about Oklahoma’s offense, exploring the potential financial fallout from Lincoln Riley hypothetically taking off for the NFL, Kawhi Leonard gets the last laugh and more!

OU Links

• The 2019 season figures to be a particularly compelling year for the Oklahoma Sooners because of all the new names and faces on the team, the staff and around the program. With so much uncertainty, what are the biggest questions that will be answered along the way? OU Insider’s Joey Helmer breaks them all down.
• College football guru Phil Steele says he won’t be surprised if Jalen Hurts posts Heisman-level stats this season at Oklahoma, but if he has one concern about Lincoln Riley’s offense, it’s the lack of experience returning at offensive line.
• Eric Bailey from the Tulsa World explores the ramifications that would ensue should Lincoln Riley move onto the NFL following the 2019 college football season. Even with the young head coach recently signing a new contract that has several built-in pay incentives and annual growth clauses, the fact of the matter is he’s still one of the most sought after coaching commodities in the sport.
• OU Insider’s Collin Kennedy explores the very real possibility of the Sooners fielding an NFL-caliber tandem at tight end between junior Grant Calcaterra and freshman Austin Stogner.
• Speaking of tight ends, 2020 four-star prospect Jalin Conyers will be visiting OU on Tuesday. Earlier this month, the nation’s No. 3 TE out of Gruver, Texas narrowed his list of choices down to Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio State.

Around the Sports World

• Okay, now this mic drop chuckle from Kawhi Leonard is not only gold but also layered. It’s in response to Klay Thompson mocking his laugh-turned-viral just before the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors for the NBA title. I guess we’re just trading laughs now, although it looks like Leonard got the last one.

• The Boston Celtics would very much like to re-sign Kyrie Irving, but there’s one problem: Kyrie is ghosting the C’s. If you’ve been in the dating game long enough, you should understand Boston’s pain.
• Many players in the NFL are expected to either rise or fall in any given year. Which players should you expect to have better seasons this fall than they had in 2018? SB Nation’s Christian D’Andrea gives you the rundown.
• There are some pretty cool new features for star players in the new Madden NFL ‘20 game, but something that a lot of people have noticed is how strange Russell Wilson looks. What’s up with him resembling Jimmy Garoppolo? And what the heck is going on with his wrists?
• Sometimes, you just wake up and do something amazing with your life. For this fan, this was one of those times. (Also, check out the Baker Mayfield jersey behind him)

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