Oklahoma has experienced some struggles on the 2022 WR front, but 2023 has been kind the the Sooners thus far.

It’s awfully early, but the 2023 recruiting class is shaping up to be something special. Today, the Oklahoma Sooners secured the commitment of Brandon Inniss, who comes from the Florida recruiting pipeline that Lincoln Riley has been trying to establish. The five-star wide receiver out of American Heritage in Ft. Lauderdale has offers from the who’s who of college football and chose the Sooners over schools such as Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and many more.

Inniss, the nation’s No. 1 WR in the 2023 class, is an elite athlete with incredible route-running abilities going into just his junior year of high school. He stands at a frame of 6’0” and 190lbs, and aggressively catches the ball in order to run downhill. He’s also a physical player who routinely beats double teams with the capabilities of becoming another gamebreaker— somebody that can simply take over games. Oklahoma has had its fair share of finesse receivers who make business decisions on the field (and I have zero issue with that!), but the opposite can be said for Inniss. The five-star recruit is probably ready for Power 5 football right now, but Lincoln Riley will have to wait two more years.

Inniss is Oklahoma’s sixth commitment for the 2023 recruiting class cycle. According to 247Sports Composite Rankings, he is the No. 1 receiver in the country, the No. 3 overall player from the state of Florida, and the No. 9 player overall in 2023. Needless to say, Dennis Simmons is a happy man right now. Although this seems like a broken record, it remains clear, the Oklahoma Sooners are loading themselves up with future NFL talent, not just D1 athletes.

Kamiar, Stephen and Brady also give us their gamely rituals.

In this week’s podcast, Kamiar and Stephen are joined by Brady Trantham to discuss the Oklahoma Sooners’ preseason hype, recruiting storylines, the Nebraska game, Spencer Rattler and much, much more.

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Is this OU’s year? Can Georgia get over the Alabama hump?

Let’s skip the chit chat. Here’s a quick rundown of projections for the Power Five conference standings at the end of the year and predictions for the College Football Playoff.

For entertainment purposes only…

ACC

Championship: Clemson (12-1) over Miami (10-3)

*I’ll include Notre Dame here. I have the Fighting Irish going 9-3.

*If you put two and two together, I projected Clemson to lose its opening game to Georgia. I made that call prior to learning the Bulldogs will likely be facing the Tigers without defensive back Tykee Smith and receiving targets Darnell Washington and Arik Gilbert. I’ll stick with it, however, as I think CU takes a very slight step back this season.

Otherwise, I envision Dabo Swinney’s team rolling through the conference slate. As of now, the Tigers’ toughest ACC game in the regular season looks like a visit to North Carolina State, and I have them as 17-point favorites there.

*I don’t share the general sense of excitement over North Carolina. The Tar Heels took some enormous hits at the offensive skill positions, losing thousand-yard rushers in Michael Carter and Javonte Williams along with thousand-yard receivers Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome. Look for the Tar Heels drop their home date with Miami and at least one more league game.

*We’re probably looking at the end of the road for David Cutcliffe at Duke and Dino Babers at Syracuse.

Big Ten

Championship: Ohio State (13-0) over Wisconsin (11-2)

*Much like the case with Clemson in the ACC, Ohio State is miles ahead of the rest of the Big Ten. This Buckeyes should slice through the conference slate with ease this year.

*In the West, Wisconsin couldn’t ask for a more favorable schedule. Penn State, Michigan and Iowa all play in Madison this year. The Badgers close the year at Minnesota, which is their toughest road game of the season.

This sounds like one of those scenarios where Wisky has a shot at the College Football Playoff going into the conference title game – which no one takes seriously.

*The latest news out of Lincoln doesn’t bode well for Nebraska coach Scott Frost. A .500 record this season wouldn’t either.

*At some point, we should start talking about the wisdom of that massive contract Purdue handed Jeff Brohm.

*Rutgers may not go winless, but even with all those players coming back, it’s tough to find victories on the schedule. The Scarlet Knights may take down Michigan State in Piscataway or get a win over Illinois. For now, I think they get the donut.

Big 12

Championship: Oklahoma (13-0) over TCU (9-4)

*Why TCU and not Iowa State? Good question.

Frankly, the head-to-head matchup between the two teams sets up well for the Horned Frogs, even though they’re playing in Ames in the regular season finale. ISU will be coming off its biggest game of the season versus the Oklahoma Sooners – and a physical one at that. TCU plays Kansas the week before, which should allow Gary Patterson and his staff to get in some early preparation for the Cyclones.

Advantage: TCU.

*If Texas wins more than eight games this season, new coach Steve Sarkisian has done a stellar job.

*Would 7-5 mean Matt Wells is safe at Texas Tech?

*The toughest team to figure: West Virginia. The Mountaineers have a tremendous coaching staff, but the roster looks so thin. Losing Tykee Smith to the transfer portal feels especially significant this year.

Pac-12

Championship: Utah (11-2) over Washington (11-2)

*Washington could end up as one of the most surprising teams in the country. I have the Huskies favored in eight of nine Pac-12 games. A trip to Michigan doesn’t look that daunting, either.

*On the other hand, wouldn’t it be very Pac-12 for UW to remove itself from contention for the final four by losing the conference championship game? Give me the Utes there for the sake of the narrative.

*Stanford’s decline under David Shaw is flying under the radar, it seems. To be fair, the Cardinal play all 12 of their games this year versus teams from Power 5 conferences. That’s a tall order.

*UCLA feels like the most likely sleeper candidate out west. I’ll take the Bruins to upset LSU in week one.

SEC

Championship: Georgia (13-0) over Alabama (12-1)

*The recent personnel issues have curbed my enthusiasm for the Bulldogs a touch, but you can’t deny how much talent Kirby Smart has assembled in Athens. Time for UGA to get over the hump.

*I’ve said it before, but only playing eight conference games really changes our perceptions of teams. Winning 10 games versus nine greatly affects how we might evaluate Florida, for example.

*Jimbo Fisher has stocked the A&M roster, but the Aggies still seem light on explosiveness. A&M needs to build up its capacity for big plays on offense if it wants to compete for conference titles.

*Feels like ex-OU assistant Shane Beamer has a steep hill to climb to get the Gamecocks back to respectability.

*Seeing as half of the league has turned over head coaches in the last two years, it makes sense that everyone’s job status appears secure this season.

College Football Playoff

Cotton Bowl: No. 1 Georgia over No. 4 Clemson

Orange Bowl: No. 3 Oklahoma over No. 2 Ohio State

Championship: No. 3 Oklahoma over No. 1 Georgia

Why not?

Spencer Rattler topped the list, obviously.

Happy Thursday, friends and fans!

With just over a week to go before the start of the upcoming college football season, ESPN’s Todd McShay unveiled his rankings of the top 50 players eligible to enter the 2022 NFL Draft. In total, three Oklahoma Sooners made the cut, including redshirt sophomore QB Spencer Rattler, who McShay considers the No. 1 overall prospect.

In addition to Rattler topping McShay’s 2022 list, he also ranks junior EDGE LB Nik Bonitto at No. 12 and senior DT Perrion Winfrey at No. 29. Based on the raw numbers alone, OU is potentially looking at three first round picks in next year’s NFL Draft.

A trio of Iowa State Cyclones (LB Mike Rose as No. 20, DE Will McDonald at No. 36 and RB Breece Hall at No. 38), as well as TCU Horned Frogs CB Noah Daniels (No. 37), also represented the Big 12 in McShay’s rankings.

Now for today’s Hot Links! Andrew Raym is leading by example, the H-back room at Oklahoma is second-to-none, Nebraska breaks the rules and more!

OU Links

• ESPN’s Chris Low recently shared his take on college football’s 2021 Preseason All-Americans, and both Spencer Rattler and Nik Bonitto were picked as First Teamers.
• Scary moment for former Mackey Award winning tight end Mark Andrews during the Baltimore Ravens training camp on Thursday. Reportedly, the Pro Bowler was dehydrated, which led to some cramping issues, according to his head coach John Harbaugh. Fortunately, it appears that he’ll be okay moving forward.

• Replacing Creed Humphrey at center will be no small task, but likely starter sophomore Andrew Raym is set on creating his own legacy at the position. OU Insider’s Joey Helmer has more.
• Senior Brayden Willis recently spoke about how he believes the Sooners could boast the top group of H-backs and tight ends in college football. OU Daily’s Chandler Engelbrecht has more.
• Speaking of H-backs, the first episode of the Podcast on the Prairie has dropped. Check out seniors Jeremiah Hall and Brayden Willis as they talk some ball and give some insight into Oklahoma Football from the perspective of the players themselves.

• In case you missed it, NFCA Freshman of the Year and 2021 NCAA D-I Softball champion Tiare Jennings tossed the first pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this week. The California product was sensational for the Sooners in her first collegiate season, and she’ll be looking to raise the bar for herself and her team next spring. Boomer!

Around the Sports World

• Earlier this week, the Big 12 Conference made an announcement detailing how the league will handle potential spikes in COVID-19 cases this season. Instead of postponing and rescheduling games like last year, teams will now have to forfeit if they fall below the threshold of available players, meaning an official loss in the W/L column for them and a win for the other team.
• On Wednesday, the Nebraska Cornhuskers football program was placed under NCAA investigation for alleged improper use of team analysts as well as unauthorized off-campus workouts.
• The Philadelphia 76ers have signed center Joel Embiid to a four-year, $196 million supermax contract extension.
• In other signing news around the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets have signed guard Terry Rozier to a four-year, $97 million max contract extension.
• The Green Bay Packers will don a newly-designed throwback uniform in Week 7 against the Washington Football Team. Check out these neat 50s inspired threads.

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OU will okay it’s home opener at 6 p.m. CT on Pay-per-view.

Happy Monday, friends and fans!

At long last, the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll was released on Monday, revealing that the Oklahoma Sooners will officially open the 2021 college football season as the No. 2 ranked team in the nation. Impressively, OU received six first-place votes, which tied with Clemson for second-most behind the reigning national champs in Alabama.

Also representing the Big 12 Conference in this preseason poll are the Iowa State Cyclones at No. 7 and the Texas Longhorns at No. 21. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Cowboys just barely missed the cut at No. 26, unofficially.

If you’d like to check out the AP Top 25 in its entirety, follow this link.

Now onto this week’s Monday edition of Hot Links! The home opener receives a kick-off time, J-Hall and B-Will are starting their own OU pod, Carli Lloyd steps away from international play and more!

OU Links

• The kick-off time for Oklahoma’s 2021 home opener against the Western Carolina Catamounts has officially been set for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 11. I suppose it’s some sort of poetic justice that the only time the Sooners ever play in prime time is on pay-per-view. (I’m just kidding… kind of)

• The staff over at ESPN recently dished on why Spencer Rattler is not only OU’s top Heisman Trophy candidate but also the national frontrunner for the prestigious individual award.
• Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh is typically a man of few words, but when asked about how this year’s group stacks up with some of his best at Oklahoma, he hasn’t been too shy to sing their praises. The Tulsa World’s Eric Bailey has more.
• Current Sooner H-backs Jeremiah Hall and Brayden Willis are taking advantage of the new NIL rules by starting up their own podcast. I think something like this has fantastic potential, not just for these two exemplary student-athletes but for student-athletes everywhere. Good luck, gentlemen! Boomer!

• For a limited time only, Oklahoma is making select merchandise depicting the iconic disco OU logo available for purchase ahead of the upcoming meeting with the Nebraska Cornhuskers as part of the 50th anniversary of the ‘Game of the Century’.

Around the Sports World

• The Atlanta Falcons are reportedly the first team to boast a one hundred percent COVID-19 vaccination rate among all players.
• Two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion Carli Lloyd has formally announced her retirement from international play and eventually from the sport as a whole. Congratulations on the legendary career, Carli!

• Super Bowl LIV MVP Patrick Mahomes recently unveiled his first signature shoe — the Mahomes 1 Impact FLX by Adidas. These kicks are scientifically proven (not really) to make you perform at the level of a future Hall of Fame quarterback when doing even the most mundane activities. Yeah you read that right. Instant baller.

• The Miami Heat have signed 41-year-old forward Udonis Haslem to a one-year, $2.6 million contract to keep him in South Beach for his 19th NBA season.
• After making a miraculous comeback following a devastating leg injury, retired NFL QB Alex Smith has agreed to join ESPN as an analyst. Well done, my guy.

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NORMAN – Oklahoma men’s basketball associate head coaches, David Patrick and K.T. Turner, have been selected to participate in the 2021 TopConnect Basketball Virtual Symposium.