Happy Thursday, friends and fans!

Forbes released its top 25 most valuable college football programs list for 2019, and the Oklahoma Sooners checked in at No. 6 behind Texas A&M, Texas, Michigan, Alabama and Ohio State based on a three-year average revenue of $129 million. OU ranks fourth (behind the two Lone Star universities and UM) in profit thanks to its $81 million three-year average.

For reference, Oklahoma was also No. 6 in 2018, so no major movement has come into effect in a year. Also, Clemson, one of the premier programs in today’s game, capped the bottom of the list at No. 25.

Conference-wise, a total of 10 SEC schools led the way, followed by seven from the Big Ten, three from the Pac-12, two from the ACC, two from the Big 12 and one Independent (ND). Judging off those kinds of statistics alone says a lot about the division of power and resources in the sport, but fortunately for the Sooners, there aren’t many programs in a healthier spot than Oklahoma.

Now for today’s Hot Links! A pair of OU linemen could return to the field as early as this week, Adrian Peterson is preparing to start for Washington, Sam Darnold apparently has mononucleosis, and more!

OU Links

• In case you missed it, Oklahoma softball received an anonymous $1.25 million donation towards a new stadium. It’s a very big deal and a great sign that this project will come to fruition in due time.

• OU Insider’s Joey Helmer relays Lincoln Riley’s update on the recovery status of OL Marquis Hayes and DL Kenneth Mann. Both could return to the field this weekend at UCLA, but if not, he expects each should be good to go following the off-week.
• The Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey wrote about the eight Californians on the football team that are excited to visit their home state to take on the Bruins. One of the more anticipated features of the trip for them is having the chance to grab some In-N-Out.
• With Derrius Guice out because of a knee injury and Samaje Perine suiting up for the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-year-old future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson is back in the starting lineup for the Washington Redskins.
• Today is National Video Games Day, so naturally Oklahoma football, whose offensive numbers are video game-like, had to drop this clever throwback-style bit highlighting some of the more recent achievements. Boomer!

• On the hoops front, it looks like Mississippi State will head to Norman for the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

• Don’t forget to check out the latest Blatant Homerism Podcast as Allen Kenney and his brother ‘The Skinny’ make their Week 3 college football gambling picks. While there aren’t any ranked-on-ranked matchups this weekend, there are a number of contests ripe for upset.

Around the Sports World

• As I’m sure you’re aware, T. Boone Pickens, billionaire oil tycoon, OSU alum and lover of all things Cowboys Athletics, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 91. Our thoughts go out to his family and the Oklahoma State family as a whole. Rest easy, Mr. Pickens.

• New York Jets starting QB Sam Darnold has been ruled out for Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Browns after being stricken with mono. That’s no fun.
• Speaking of the Browns, a fan who allegedly threw beer at Tennessee Titans DB Logan Ryan was banned from the stadium. The only problem — they got the wrong fan. C’mon, Cleveland.
• It’s been discovered that 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify not only failed pre-race drug tests, but the results were buried for officials who had stakes in the horse’s competitions. That’s a real shame.
• Technically this goes down as a stolen base, but the San Diego Padres’ Ty France had no business pulling off this heist. Fortunately for him, Chicago Cubs pitcher Brad Wieck completed failed to make him pay any consequences. My goodness gracious that’s sad.

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