Happy Hump Day, friends and fans!

In case you missed it, the Oklahoma Sooners held serve at No. 11 in Tuesday night’s release of the updated College Football Playoff rankings.

Also checking in the CFP top 25 from the Big 12 Conference are the Iowa State Cyclones at No. 9 and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 15. Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns dropped out of the poll after losing to ISU on Friday.

From this week forward, as long as OU’s scheduled games are played, it’ll have several opportunities to make a serious run toward the top four. Will it happen? Perhaps not, but plenty of outside variables still exist to leave such a climb a feasible possibility.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! Bob Stoops sheds light on his new coaching role, OU is on track to open the college basketball season this week, sports stadiums could return to full capacity by next fall and more!

OU Links

• Bob Stoops is officially back on the OU coaching staff, albeit in a significantly limited and temporary role as an emergency assistant. After Lincoln Riley broke the news during his Tuesday afternoon press conference, the former head coach delivered a statement to further explain the extent of this temporary role. He says he’s aiming to keep a low profile, and I believe him, but good luck with that (particularly if his services are needed on Saturday)!

• Spencer Rattler was recently named to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2020. All 35 FBS quarterbacks in this class are eligible to be voted semifinalists this week by the national selection committee and through social media fan voting. Click here to cast your vote for Oklahoma’s signal caller.

• I can’t remember a season in the last decade where OU showed as much growth as it has from the beginning of this campaign until now. The Sooners’ offense is humming, and the defense is legitimately ferocious. Boomer!

• OU men’s basketball should be set to finally tip-off the 2020-21 season against UTSA this Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. CT. Also, game times and TV designations have been made official for Oklahoma’s first two Big 12 contests of the year, as seen below.

• Hey folks, it’s officially the season of giving, and you can do your part to help the Norman community by donating to the OU Food Pantry this week. If you plan on attending the Sooners’ basketball or football home games this Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, you can show your support to the cause by offering generosity to your neighbors in need.

Around the Sports World

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently stated that he believes sports stadiums could return to full capacity as early as the end of next summer if COVID vaccination models are carried out as planned.
• Speaking of COVID-19, the Baltimore Ravens will be without the services of their top two running backs — Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins — when they line up to play the Pittsburgh Steelers today.
• After just three games with the No. 17 Texas Tech Red Raiders, redshirt sophomore forward Joel Ntambwe has left the program for undisclosed personal reasons, according to head coach Chris Beard.
• Arkansas Razorbacks senior RB Rakeem Boyd has elected to opt out of his team’s two remaining regular season games in order to start preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft.
• The Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly expected to waive center Joakim Noah, which will likely spell the end of the two-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year’s NBA career.

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