Happy Hump Day, friends and fans!

If you’re on Twitter, you’ll definitely want to participate in this poll if you haven’t already done so. When voting ends (next Tuesday), the winning choice will apparently determine how the fans should dress for the Oklahoma Sooners’ season opener on Sept. 1.

So far it looks like a white-out is the fan favorite, and the lead is relatively comfortable with over 14K votes and counting. A white-clad affair on the night before Labor Day is also my personal preference out of the given choices. Whether you dig the prospects of a white-out, you’re a fan of striping the stadium, or you want OU to explore one of those other options (no matter how odd), make your voice heard and make it happen!

Now let’s dive into today’s Hot Links! The Sooners’ new defense is starting to take shape, Baker Mayfield headlines ESPN’s front page as the latest cover man, things get testy between the Angels and Astros and more!

OU Links

• Attention all Sooners fans! SB Nation wants to hone in on the pulse of fan bases across the nation this college football season, and our community here at Crimson & Cream Machine is looking for dialed-in OU fans that have their own opinions on where Oklahoma stacks up against the nation and have the urge to share it. Follow along here for more information on how you can become part of the new SB Nation FanPulse Top 25!
• 247’s Chris Hummer wrote about Oklahoma’s defensive shift into the Alex Grinch era, where big changes are expected from both a schematic standpoint as well as the overall mentality.
• Speaking of the Sooners’ defense, Neville Gallimore was at Big 12 Media Days earlier this week and spoke about what he likes about Grinch thus far. According to the senior DT, constructive criticism goes much further with him than constant praise. OU Daily’s Tarik Masri has more.
• Baker Mayfield is already become the most popular man in Cleveland and he’s yet to play a full season for the Browns. With expectations skyrocketing, how does the former Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick maintain his underdog mentality?

• If you watched the Mayfield video above, you probably noticed ESPN’s Mina Kimes conducting the interview. If you enjoyed that, you’ll definitely want to read up on her cover story featuring the Cleveland Browns QB himself. This is a quality read from an exceptional talent.

• Speaking of Mayfield, you won’t be surprised to know that he’s high on the list for Texas Longhorns fans when it comes to the all-time Sooners that they simply cannot stand. But is he No. 1? And how on earth could anybody hate Jermaine Gresham?

• Also, in case you haven’t had the chance, you definitely want to listen to this week’s Oklahoma Breakdown Podcast with Jack and Kamiar. In this episode, they give their reactions to Big 12 Media Days and were joined by Kegan Reneau and Brayden Conover from SoonersWire.

Around the Sports World

• I don’t know how long it will take me to get used to seeing this, but here we have Russell Westbrook looking the part as a member of the Houston Rockets.

• I don’t know if Los Angeles pitcher Noé Ramirez intended to hit the Houston Astros’ Jake Marisnick with the pitch, but clearly Houston’s dugout thought so. Albert Pujols obviously wasn’t about to hear any of it. Calm down, fellas, everything is going to be alright.

• UFC President Dana White is against the idea of a fight between Jorge Masvidal and Conor McGregor. After Masvidal’s five-second knockout of Ben Askren at UFC 239, it’s certainly a bout that would entice fight fans from all over the globe.
• Check out this world record pit stop tire change over from the folks over at Formula 1 Racing. 1.91 seconds is all they needed to exchange all four tires and send the racer on his way? Humans are sometimes incredible.

Stick to Sports!

• New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi has agreed to direct the fourth installment of Marvel’s Thor franchise. The director manned ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ in 2017, and also voiced the giant, rocky punchline known as Korg. In all, this is a major win for Disney and Marvel Studios, as well as fans of Thor’s more comedic direction. Filming has not been started, and a release date has yet to be finalized.

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