Happy Monday, friends and fans!

As soon as the recruiting dead period came to an end with the start of March, the Oklahoma Sooners hosted a number of major recruiting targets over the weekend. With so much buzz back in the building and around the program, it only seems right that Lincoln Riley picked up another silent commitment along the way.

Interestingly enough, exactly one minute after Riley tweeted out those eyes on Sunday evening, 2021 four-star CB Latrell McCutchin out of Austin, Texas announced his decommitment from Alabama.

Considering McCutchin was one of the visitors OU hosted this weekend, is it all just a coincidence? Stay tuned.

Now onto this week’s Monday edition of Hot Links! Oklahoma downs LSU behind an historic no-no, the Sooners prepare for Senior Night against the Longhorns, Mike Trout is very mean to this one golf ball and more!

OU Links

• Lon Kruger’s Sooners are trending upwards in the NCAA NET Rankings, climbing from No. 42 to No. 40 with one week remaining in the college basketball regular season. Also, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently sees Oklahoma grabbing a 10-seed in his latest Bracketology report, while CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm projects OU to check in as a 9-seed.
• The Dallas Morning News’ Spenser Davis discussed Oklahoma’s linebacker situation going into the 2020 season. While replacing Kenneth Murray will be a tall task, veterans like Caleb Kelly and Jon-Michael Terry should provide enough experience to keep the play on the field form being too green. Add in guys like DaShaun White and Nik Bonitto, and this group, while not as deep as some others, has potential star power at the top.
• In case you missed it, Sooner junior RHP Dane Acker, a transfer from San Jacinto College, tossed a no-hitter to thwart LSU at the Shriners College Classic on Sunday. Here’s the call for the final out as Oklahoma beat the Bayou Bengals, 1-0. Our own Jack Shields was in Houston for all the OU Baseball action, and you can check out his recap of the historic moment right here.

• Following Oklahoma’s tremendous weekend on the diamond, the Sooners have moved up to No. 11 in Baseball America’s top 25 rankings.
• Tuesday night will be Senior Night for Oklahoma forward Kristian Doolittle. It’s been a career full of highs and lows, and now the Edmond native would want nothing more than to end his final game in Norman with a win over his school’s biggest rival — Texas. John Rohde has more on SoonerSports.

• Former Sooners QB Landry Jones suffered an alarming knee injury late in the game between his Dallas Renegades and the Houston Roughnecks on Sunday. He’ll continue to be evaluated, but it appears that there’s a chance this injury could sideline him for the remainder of the XFL season.

• Despite efforts from Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops to hire his brother onto his staff, former OU DC Mike Stoops plans to stay at Alabama in his defensive analyst role for the 2020 season.

Around the Sports World

• Los Angeles Angels super star Mike Trout must hate everything spherical shaped because he absolutely crushes their souls with every swing. Seriously though, he’s like a real life Happy Gilmore minus the putrid short game, probably.

• The Kansas State Wildcats have promoted safeties coach Joe Klanderman to defensive coordinator three days after losing former DC Scottie Hazelton to the Michigan State Spartans.
• Ex-heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder has officially called for a rematch versus Tyson Fury after losing his WBC belt to him on Feb. 22. This summer, on July 18, these two colossal titans will clash for a third time, once again at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to wrap up this epic modern day boxing trilogy.
• Former Houston Astros pitcher Ken Giles, now with the Toronto Blue Jays, recently stated that he would willingly give back his World Series ring from 2017 if that’s what was asked of him. For an athlete at the highest level, that can’t be an easy thing to say, let alone actually go through with.
• ESPN’s Heather Dinich charted the top College Football Playoff contenders on paper going into 2020 using the Football Power Index and Bill Connelly’s SP+ ratings.

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