First thing before I get into College Game Day…I want to shout out to Porter Moser’s OU Sooners for beating both East Carolina and Indiana State to advance to the finals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The team is getting better every game and while I don’t think OU has a ceiling any higher than maybe 4th or 5th in the Big 12… I have a good feeling in my heart about this team and the manner in which the team as a whole is working to improve every game.That’s all you can ask of a team…to get better every game.
OU plays Utah State on Sunday at 2:00pm for the tournament championship.
Also to the tanking OKC Thunder…I watched every minute of their game last night against the defending world champion Milwaukee Bucks. I was impressed with the Thunder even though they lost the game. Aaron Wiggins is going to be another solid piece. Poku is starting to come around. JRE has natural basketball instincts. Giddy’s rebounding, smarts, and passing should counter his murky outside shot. Mike Muscala and Kenrich when allowed to play the minutes they deserve are balling.
My problem with the Thunder aren’t the players themselves, but more to the point with Sam Hinkie-Presti’s vision of what ‘sustainability’ in Oklahoma City is NBA-wise.
I will never dog any of these Thunder players on my blog because they’re doing the best can given the cards their GM has allowed them to play with. I’ll write about the Thunder on Monday and give my Top 10 Thunder players so far this season looking into the team building core future.
As far as Game Day…I’m tired of begging Lincoln Riley and his team to show up for sixty minutes in a game against anybody this season. Here’s the thing though…on the first poll I had OU somewhere between 4-6 nationally. I never had them winning the national championship because of five reasons.
Here are those five reasons… 1 Creed Humphrey, Kansas City Chiefs, 2 Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots, 3 Tre Norwood, Pittsburgh Steelers, 4 Trey Brown, Seattle Seahawks, and 5 Ronnie Perkins, NE Patriots.
There you go. Those five guys who were OU’s most impactful players last season are all now in the NFL. And let’s not kid ourselves about OU’s super soft defense and what it’s looked like without Ronnie Perkins carrying the energy load with his motor. This OU defense for the most part plays like a collective group of pussies who at the most haven’t played more than forty minutes of sustained high quality football in a single game this season. Evidently…Ronnie Perkins was their heart. Their heart now plays for Bill Bilichick.
And then add to the mix OU unlike in the days of Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts hasn’t gotten consistent quarterback play for the first time in the Lincoln Riley Era in Norman.
For the first time in the Lincoln Riley era his quarterback situation is cloudy heading into the stretch run in November.
As far as the game in Norman today….OU is a three point favorite and I wouldn’t touch this game with a ten foot pole. Matt Campbell’s team has covered the spread vs. OU five out of the six times he’s coached against Lincoln Riley… and almost covered a sixth time.
I’m 12-14 verus the spread this season which isn’t awful, but it’s not to my standard. Chris van Pelt and Chris Jackson are having banner years beating the spread. I need to pick it up in a very big way starting today.
Today I’m taking K State at home versus Baylor at even. I’m taking Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide at home -19 versus my Arkansas Razorbacks. And in my bonus game I’m still thinking about it. I need more time to reflect. I’ll be back.
As far as Lincoln Riley going to LSU for $12 million a year…whatever. If LSU is stupid enough to pay that money to a coach who in reality has done a C+ level job of coaching his team so far this season…then I guess Lincoln Riley and LSU deserve one another. If Lincoln is smart…he’ll stay with Joe C.
As far as Caleb Williams goes…I would assume he and his coach had a nice private chat sometime this week about who’s the OU quarterback this season. I would hope that conversation went something like this.