Happy Thursday, friends and fans!

Coming off of his game-winning Hail Mary connection, former Oklahoma Sooners QB Kyler Murray is set to lead his Arizona Cardinals on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. K1 led the Cards to a win in the teams’ first meeting this season, and the winner of tonight’s rematch will take sole possession of the top spot in the NFC West.

Before the game, tune in for an exclusive interview between Murray and FOX Sports’ Erin Andrews where they’ll take a look back at the amazing Hail Mary pass from K1 to star WR DeAndre Hopkins.

A lot is on the line as far as potential playoff positioning is concerned in this west coast clash. Thursday Night Football kicks off at 7:20 p.m. CT on FOX and the NFL Network.

Now for today’s Hot Links! Oklahoma’s advantage in Bedlam can be found in the trenches, a couple OU commits rise in the recruiting rankings, a Dubs star likely faces another major setback and more!

OU Links

• ESPN’s College GameDay crew is officially in Norman and ready to set up shop ahead of Saturday night’s epic Bedlam ball. Even without fans on site, this will be a great opportunity for Oklahoma to leap right back into the national spotlight.

• According to Pro Football Focus, true freshman WR Marvin Mims has graded out as the highest rated receiver in the Big 12. At this rate, the future is bright for this young Sooner.

• On Wednesday, Alex Grinch discussed the challenges his defense will face this weekend while trying to contain the likes of Chuba Hubbard and Tylan Wallace. Also, he spoke about the growth he’s seen in Isaiah Thomas and Nik Bonitto, writes the OU Daily’s Chandler Engelbrecht.
• This year’s matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys is a lot more contested on paper, but the one area OU should have a significant advantage is its D-line versus OSU’s O-line, writes John Hoover of SI Sooners.
• This week, senior RB Rhamondre Stevenson talked about how his position coach, DeMarco Murray, was also his favorite running back for his favorite team during his playing days with the Dallas Cowboys, writes SI Sooners’ Parker Thune.
• 2021 Sooners CB commit Jordan Mukes recently received a recruiting rating bump from 247Sports, now making him a four-star prospect, writes OU Insider’s Joey Helmer.
• 2021 LB commit Danny Stutsman also saw a jump in his recruit ranking. As of now, he’s listed as a four-star in 247Sports’ rankings, writes OU Insider’s Collin Kennedy.
• Back in his day as a Sooner, Baker Mayfield went a perfect 3-0 against his little brothers from Stillwater. Three years later, and the Magic Man’s trash talking ways are still in effect. You can remove the GOAT from Bedlam, but you can’t remove Bedlam from the GOAT. Boomer!

• In case you missed it, tune into this week’s Bedlam edition of the Oklahoma Breakdown Podcast with your usual hosts, Jack and Kamiar. This time, the guys are joined by Joel Penfield of Cowboys Ride for Free to preview this Saturday’s highly-anticipated matchup between OU and OSU. Find out what everybody has to say going into the weekend, and how each of them expect this game to play out. As usual, keep in mind that this pod does contain some NSFW language.

Around the Sports World

• The Minnesota Timberwolves selected guard Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick on Wednesday night to open the 2020 NBA Draft.

• In other NBA news, the Golden State Warriors fear that Klay Thompson may have suffered a severe Achilles tendon injury during practice. The sharp-shooter missed the 2019-20 season with a torn ACL injury.
• Conor McGregor is officially set to return to the Octagon on Jan. 23 for UFC 257. The ‘Notorious’ one will fight Dustin Poirier at 155 pounds.
• A high school football coach in Maryland reportedly suffered a heart attack during a game but remained on the sidelines until the completion of the contest before seeking medical treatment at a local hospital. That’s intense and I would not recommend anyone else try this.

Follow Crimson & Cream Machine on Twitter!