Happy Thursday, friends and fans!

On Wednesday, the Oklahoma Sooners began voluntary on-campus workouts. Later in the evening, the OU Athletics Department released its COVID-19 testing data, which revealed that seven new positives were discovered among the team, bringing the total number of positive cases from players to 14 out of 111 tests. According to the report, two players have since recovered, while 12 remain active.

The football staff has also been tested, and out of 72 total tests, two came up positive. None of the identities of the players or staff members who tested positive for the coronavirus have been officially disclosed.

Honestly, these figures were to be expected more or less, especially when looking at other programs who returned their student-athletes back to campus over the past couple weeks. Regular testing for all of Oklahoma’s players and staff will continue throughout the remainder of this offseason and presumably the duration of the fall semester.

Now for today’s Hot Links! The Sooners are back in action, a highly sought-after recruiting target earns a coveted MVP title, TAMU commits a list of no-no’s and more!

OU Links

• Oklahoma strength coach Bennie Wylie is providing some excellent content from his Instagram account, showing the Sooners as they return to the field for voluntary workouts. To whom it may concern, please let football happen this year. I need it — desperately.

• On Wednesday, OU announced it has made a series of budget cuts throughout its Athletics Department to account for financial losses due to COVID-19. The total cost-cutting amounts to approximately $13.7 million in controllable operating expenses, including a 10% salary reduction for all employees earning $1 million or more per year.
• Oklahoma 2021 five-star QB target Caleb Williams showed out this week at the Elite 11 camp in Nashville, taking home MVP honors. The D.C. prospect will be announcing his commitment this Saturday (and he won’t be alone).

• If you haven’t already, make sure you check out these sweet OU-themed face coverings! The good folks over at Fanatics have several options for any Oklahoma fan wanting to represent their Sooners in style while also doing their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Boomer!

• This week, our resident C&C machinist Kamiar Mehrabian crossed over the virtual Red River lines to preview Oklahoma’s 2020 team on the Longhorn Republic Podcast. There he caught up with Burnt Orange Nation’s Gerald Goodridge and Kyler Carpenter to discuss what he expects to see from the Sooners this college football season, including providing some insight on Spencer Rattler, the defense in year two under Alex Grinch and much more. It’s a fun Texas Longhorns pod that I personally listen to quite regularly, so I highly recommend you check this episode out as soon as you can!

Around the Sports World

• On Thursday, the Texas A&M Aggies received a notice from the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions for committing multiple recruiting violations during the 13-month period between Jan. 2018 and Feb. 2019. The resulting penalties include one year of probation, several recruiting-related bans and a six-month show-cause order for Jimbo Fisher and an assistant coach. You hate to see it.
• Oklahoma State Cowboys starting left tackle Dylan Galloway has retired from football, citing his extensive history with injuries throughout his playing career.
• Nine more NBA players have yielded positive test results for COVID-19, upping the total to 25 since teams entered the Orlando bubble.
• The NFL has shortened its 2020 preseason schedule by 50%, eliminating Weeks One and Four from the original slate. In my opinion, this needs to be the new normal anyway.
• Chicago Cubs left-handed pitcher José Quintana reportedly suffered a laceration to his left thumb while washing dishes. He’s only expected to be out of commission for approximately two weeks. Hey now, don’t laugh. It’s not funny. Alright, I’ll admit, the silliness of this rather unusual situation does make me want to chuckle a bit.

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