WrestleMania Predictions

Pre Show

Cruiserweight Championship
Austin Aries vs Neville(c)
Winner:  New Champ: Aries

Memorial Battle Royal
Winner: Sami Zayn


Main Show

SD! Womens Six Pack
Winner: New Champ: Naomi

Raw Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
The Club (c) vs Enzo and Cass vs Cesaro/Sheamus
Winners: The Club retain

SD! Intercontinental Championship
Ambrose(c) vs Corbin
Winner: Ambrose retains

SD! Mixed Tag Cena/Bella vs Miz/Maryse
Winner: Cena/Bella and John for having a prenup

Raw United States Championship
Jericho(C) vs Kevin Owens
Winner: New Champion Kevin Owens - Remains on the list

Raw: HHH vs Rollins
SCRATCHED/Shenanigans
Winner: TBC


SD! Styles vs McMahon
Winner Styles

RAW Womens Title 4 Pack
Winner: Bayley  retains

RAW Universal Title
Goldberg (C) vs Lesnar
Winner: Goldberg Retains (SWERVEPLEX CITY)

RAW
Undertaker vs Roman Reigns
Winner: Reigns because you touch yourself at night

SD! WWE Championship
Bray(c) vs Orton
Winner: New WWE Champion Orton

Oklahoma adds Grad Transfer WR Jeff Badet

Badet took to his twitter to announce the move. I noted days ago that Oklahoma was in extremely good shape with him

Badet averaged 21 yards per catch in a run first offense at Kentucky last year, he is a lift the lid off the defense type player and will give Oklahoma an instant impact type playmaker.

Say what now?

Ever hear something that's just kind of funny to you? I think most people atleast have dealt with basic rumors and perhaps heard of someone gossiping behind your back. What if the people doing the gossiping are college football coaches?

Buddy of mine lives and works in another Big 12 city, over the last seven years or so he's ingrained himself into the community for social and business reasons despite graduating elsewhere. We caught up with each other in late February and the talk turned to sports and the Kansas rebuild.

That's right. Kansas. Kansas has beef with Oklahoma

My friend attended a boosters luncheon as  guest of one of his business partners. Apparently David Beaty doesn't really take too fondly to Oklahoma at all. This conversation was joking and I pretty much laughed it off as him just pulling my leg but he doubled down on it and said that the Kansas staff feels Bob and Oklahoma are  predatory.

Conversation went on and basically it boiled down to the Kansas staff feels a little picked on based on the Bledsoe plucking and bringing Thibs home.

Now lets rewind this. Oklahoma has a bit of history under Stoops of targeting Kansas in recruiting. I mean under Bob alone the list of prospects Oklahoma has plucked out of Kansas is impressive: Phillips, Bell, Grissom, McCay etc. So I understand the frustration, that is a legit frustration among multiple KU boosters

Predatory tho? It was relayed that the KU staff feels Oklahoma's staff is lazy when it comes to recruiting, piggybacking off others work and just swooping in late and others in the Big 12 coaching circle feels the same. Which absolutely makes no sense as it relates to Bledsoe and I can't recall Oklahoma swooping in late on really anyone tied to the Big 12 in the last two cycles I really chalk that all up to a young and to this point unsuccessful coach trying to fire up his base and donors, because the next pitch my buddy heard was about keeping Kansas kids home

Anyway what compelled me to write about this today was me doing my research for next months Big 12 post, I came across several discussions online about Beaty, Stoops, and Bledsoe etc that really reinforced the whole gossip nature of this.  I get trying to grow enthusiasm for your base, but realistically putting pressure on yourself in this manner seems foolish to me. Kansas offered the likely #1 prospect in state Miles Emery in October of 2016. Oklahoma offered in February of 2017. Wonder how that plays out? Don't over promise and under deliver, even at Kansas

Kansas, we're talking about Kansas.

Jordan Kelley Commits

Union's own Jordan Kelley made it official today,committing to Oklahoma over Oklahoma State, Texas Christian and Arkansas following the Under Armour scouting combine.He announced on twitter. Kelley checked in at #5 on my in state prospect ranking Kelley becomes the third in state commitment for Oklahoma joining fellow Okies Walker and Fields.

Kelley probably legitimately stands 6'3 and about 295, pretty much a perfect frame for projecting out well at the next level, Film Here . Jordan becomes the first defensive line commit in a class that should be full of them. 

Recruiting Housekeeping

Made some adjustments/edited  the Recruiting hotboard to reflect new information following Kelley's commitment. Next complete update on April 20th

Prediction: Next three commits Miles Emery, Bryce Bray, Ron Tatum

Pledger Commits

TJ Pledger verbals to Oklahoma over USC,Nebraska and UCLA among many others. The kid is originally from California and is finishing his prep career at the IMG Prep Academy in Florida. Pledger stands 5'8 and 190 pounds  Watch his highlights below

Now flip on some highlights of Q

Pledger's ability to run inside and outside reminds me so much of Q. Pledger is build so stoutly and low to the ground, with his vision its an impressive combination. Pledger will push for a 5 star rating.he plans to shut down his recruitment. Expect more good news this weekend.

March Recruiting Update: '18 ST2k18

Right after NSD I gave my offense and defense projections for the class, with recruiting starting to pick up I guess it's time to do another as recruiting changes rapidly

Notes:

 I continue to hear OU is in prime time play for Kentucky graduate transfer WR Jeff Badet. I expect that to go Oklahoma's way unless Oregon just blows him out of the water. Oklahoma will be a perfect showcase opportunity for him. Scott Pagano, the Clemson graduate transfer DT is set to take in Norman at the end of the month. It appears Notre Dame, and Oregon will be Oklahoma's major competition for him.

Boom Season Coming?:  Spring practices marks the return of on campus visits, it's been reported by multiple outlets that RB TJ Pledger will be on campus soon. The majority feel a commitment is possible. The reality is that the writing is on the wall with several local prospects, this would be a great start for momentum for the class. I expect  two to three instate BOOMs over the course of the next month

UPDATED 10:36 3/22  Union DT Jordan Kelley will announce Sunday. As I posted on my Patreon blog earlier today, expect in state booms.

Updated: 3/25: TJ Pledger Verbals.

Updated: 3/26: Jordan Kelley Verbals

Updated: 3/26: Adjusted some projections below

Having your cake and eating it too: I've shared here before I kind of feel that Oklahoma isn't going to ink a elite offensive class this year because of various factors (quality of last years class, Riley's future) I've revised that a bit, I figure we'll pull an elite line class plus offensive triplets


Now it's time for my revised projections for the 18 class. reminder to take my projections with a grain of salt and as always default to the $9.95er of your choice for more insight.

Red = Committed/ Blue =Offered, Projected Verbal  (...) = Others in running

Offense:

QB- Cam Rising

RB- TJ Pledger -( Nebraska & USC) TBD

Flexback/TE -  TBD

OT - Brey Walker   Darrell Simpson (Texas A&M)

IOL- Curtis Dunlap (Florida/Miami) Bryce Bray (Oklahoma State, Texas)

WR -    Treveon Johnson (Texas Tech), Tommy Bush (Alabama,Auburn Texas), Drake Stoops (ISU)

Defense


DT Jordan Kelly (TCU,OSU) Bobby Brown (A&M)  Trevor Trout (Missoui)
DE Ron Tatum (Alabama,Texas), Miles Emery (Louisville) Ronnie Perkins (Missouri)
OLB  Jalen Redman (Arkansas),
ILB   Iziah Fikikitonga (TCU)  
CB   Vernone McKinley (A&M,Alabama, Tech,)  Starrland Baldwin (TCU,Utah)
S   Patrick Fields Josh Proctor (Oklahoma State, Georgia,Arkansas), Cam Jones (UCLA)



The bare minimum number Oklahoma is going to take in '18 is in fact 18. I've written on it before that attrition is just part of the numbers game. I've fairly confident Oklahoma will take 22-24 kids when ink hit paper on Feb '18, possibly more depending on EE's etc.

House Keeping:

You'll notice new names and names missing between version 2 and version1 (linked at the top of the page). The biggie is Jordon Austin.scuttlebutt is his status is cloudy, we'll see what shakes out this spring. Keep an eye on Cam Rising- QBs taking visits is iffy to me, however I suspect if they staff felt some type of way about it they would have directed attention elsewhere by now

Next Three Commits?: TJ Pledger, Miles Emery, Jordan Kelly

'18 Big 12 Recruiting Snapshot - March

It's time once again to get back into the swing of things with CFB recruiting and Big 12 recruiting in particular. It's still early, but this is the second update of the '18 cycle, here be post number one


General Housekeeping:  Still kind of slow in researching recruiting needs/restriction for all the Big 12 teams at this point. I'll get on that and next months will be more in depth on each team so far as roster needs.

KU: Kansas still leading the pack buoyed by a foursome of Louisiana prospects despite some high quality decommitments last month .Leader of the pack for KU at this point is four star wr Devonta Jason, t will be a major coup for Kansas to hold on to him. KU has not picked up any new commitments since the February Recruiting Snapshot.

OU:  Sooner specific update coming tonight/tomorrow.  Oklahoma's top prospect is five-star OT Brey Walker - who is controversially the #2 in my OK Preps ranking. Oklahoma added in state three-star safety Patrick Fields since the Feb snapshot.

TCU:  Frogs added two prospects since the last updated, including the current headliner to their class in four-star safety Atanza Vongor

OSU: Pokes added my #8 rated Ok Preps prospect in three-star prospect OT Hunter Anthony. Dual Threat QB Spencer Sanders remains the bell cow

Baylor: One of the few teams I know a bit about: Baylor is going to be attempting to replenish their  line depth in a major way, and that shows early as Rhule has already accepted the commitments of three offensive line prospects. Bears have added two commits since the last update, both on the OL in Casey Phillips and Ylijaah Hall.

Tech: No change since Feb snapshot, Top recruit remains four-star WR Gabriel Douglas 

Texas: First commit of the Herman era at Texas is a Florida boy, that trend didn't work out so well for Strong. Justin Watkin is a four-star WR. Recruits are said to be taking a wait and see appoach with Texas this year.

WVU: No new prospects for WVU, three-star in state DT James Gmiter is the lone Mountaineer at this point

ISU: ISU got on the board with Wisconsin three-star DE Will McDonald hoping on board late last month

KSU: N/A way way too much in the air with Snyder's health. Recruiting will be slower than usual for KSU.

247

Rivals

Scout

March Projected Order of Finish

#1 Oklahoma

#2 TCU

#3 Texas

#4 Ok State

#5 Baylor

#6 WVU

#7 ISU

#8 Tech

#9 Kansas

#10 Kansas State

'17 Spring Football: What to watch for

Offense:

Priority number one is attempting to replace the production of Samaje and Mixon. The good news is whoever wins the job will be running behind one of the top units in the country. Rodney Anderson, Abdul Adams, Trey Sermon and Marcelias Sutton are all on campus in the spring. The talent is there, and the opportunity is there. Anderson has been snakebitten by injury but is highly thought of and was likely going to see carries last year even with Samaje and Joe. Abdul was servicable in limited carries, he was inexperienced but should begin to flower with a full off season under his belt.Sutton is battling a small crack in a bone in his foot so he may be limited this spring, but he is electric in space. Sermon has the build to be Oklahoma's next power back. Someone out of this pack will emerge this spring, I doubt Oklahoma names a starter as I suspect we'll ride the hot hand early in '17 but we'll see flashes of all these guys. I suspect we'll be RBC early. It also should be noted Oklahoma will also add Oklahoma will also add Kennedy Brooks this fall.

WR:  Our WR corps are currently, Mark Andrews, Nick Basquine,  and then some hopes and prayers. The hopes are that Jeff Mead leaps forward as he did late in the year for Oklahoma and that Marquise Brown is in fact that dude. Mykel Jones showed flashes, he needs to progess as well. There are a number of other scholarship WRs on the roster that need to take a leap forward as talented Freshman Lamb and Rambo are coming this fall.  I expect some turnover and processing in this group in spring/after spring


Defense:

Well we finished strong and that's what counts right?

The biggest issue to me is replacing Jordan Evans as I'm comfortable with the returning bodies in the secondary and the newcomers

Ricky Deberry moving from OLB to ILB is a huge coup for Oklahoma. He is a talented kid, he's just a bit too big to be coming off the edge now.  JMT got rave reviews from Bob and he'll obviously be in play and see time and EE Levi Draper will also get some play here and be in contention

4 Man Front: How much do we use it? Impact of potentially getting Scott Pagano to that descision. It is time for Lampkin to make a move, and Q Overton is back off injury. Oklahoma could have a sneaky good defensive  front this year but it has to prove it on the field with replacing Wade who never really got the credit he deserved.

Ok Preps Ranking: The Incomplete 15 - 3/19

Well this week sucked. My data was corrupted in transfer and I wasn't able to retrieve it so I had to redo the whole thing. Apologies!  Here is the anouncement from last week.


#1 Ron Tatum III - DL

#2 Brey Walker - OL Committed to Oklahoma

#3 Jalen Redmond -DE/LB

#4 Owen Condon -OL

#5 Jordan Kelley -DL

#6 Bryce Brey- OL

#7 C.J. Moore -WR

#8  Hunter Anthony -OL Committed to Oklahoma State

#9 Casey Thompson -QB

#10  Israel Antwine -DL

#11 Josh Proctor - DB

#12 Sean Shaw - WR

#13 Patrick Fields - DB Committed to Oklahoma

#14 Devonte Lee - RB

#15  Nigel Brannon -OL

On the Cusp:  James Palmer TE, Wil Amos ATH, Drake Stoops WR,


I'll do an updated one of these in the Fall (October) then a final ranking in January that should be enough time to account for growing offer sheets.


Edit: 3/20  So I've had some questions on my system and why a player like Proctor who is a blue chip is so low. Simply put: He won't finish there, my formula weighted measurables are important so it will skew to the taller/heavier frames but there won't be much change on that (kids rarely shoot up 3 inches/20+ pounds) It's also designed so that the tiered offer value will boost a kid up the ranking. As I said before, this will hurt some kids who commit and shut down early but i'll take that into account in my final ranking in January.

Announcing the Incomplete 15

Some groundwork: My thoughts are of no particular value, so if you/your son/nephew/boyfriend isn't listed that's okay, we're all gonna act like little fonzies and be cool.


What: The Incomplete 15 is my rankings system for the top OkPreps with FBS college potential

How: My system is made of three components:  weighted measurables vs typical FBS measurements. weighed points per each FBS offer(G5 offers are worth X, P5 offers X+2.)  Coaching Caliber - An OL offer from Bill Snyder will carry more of an impact than Kliff Kingsbuy.

I was told there would be no math: Outside of the metrics, I looked at the hudl film I slot 95% on measurable  5% on my gut instinct.

Why: Because crootin & boredom

Only 15? Why not 20 or 25? : Because I'm lazy, but  I go deeper for tracking purposes through the year as offer information comes in.

What About ___?: Yes reported heights, weights and forty times are iffy but I use the average across the major sites.  Yes, players without many FBS offers will end up impacting the rank just as a player may commit early and end up sliding because they didn't pick up more offers. It'll be fine, trust me.


When?: Releasing tomorrow afternoon.




Jesus help me.

OU Basketball - Welp

Season didn't go entirely as I thought it would, I thought Oklahoma would be on the bubble, but things were a bit worse than that.

The obvious: Replacing Buddy and Cousins wasn't going to happen. Buddy is an nba starter and potentially a long term one as he progresses and Cousins is cashing checks in the NBA DLeague


Ice, Ice Baby: Oklahoma under Lon just has the tendency to go cold, we run our offense, we work each set through a designated player and if that player is cold we tend to just keep trying for too many possessions.

Talent isn't an issue:  The core bones of this years squad are more talented than probably 20 teams that will go dancing this year, killer instinct (which both Buddy and Cousins had) just didn't manifest itsself this year.

Woodard: Injuries derailed his season early ad after his comeback, I feel he kind of pushed himself too hard, put too much responsibility on his own shoulders as a senior leader. Woodard fought hard all year and its a damn shame that injuries did him dirty. I hope he recovers from his surgery and has a lengthy overseas career.



Next Year: Oklahoma will finish in the top half of the league, perhaps as high as 3, the nucleus of talent is strong and will be better with an offseason of work. Trae Young is a 5 star prospect and his involvement with the program for so long will help his integration into,  This team will dance into the second weekend next year, but for now we wait.

MWC: Willing to gamble on its future?

The MWC is beginning to weigh its options on life without a cable deal.  The logic is sound, there isn't enough money going into each mwc schools bank accounts to offset the lost fan interest.

The obvious ploy here is the MWC will be hoping for more money when their rights are renegotiated,I'll take it at face value and consider the pros and cons of such a move.

Pros
---
Conference control - obviously, league could still piecemeal conference games out weekly if there is interest

Fan Engagement - I 100% agree that attendance numbers would go up

Digital Subscribers - Digital framework has existed, it seems to be steadily improving, if they price is right and there is a digital archive of on demand games casual football fans would purchase.

No Competition -  The WAC is long since dead and as such they really don't have to sell being on tv. It's not going to hurt them in recruiting, college football players have to sign somewhere and there are so many FBS schools out west now


Cons:

Boise State - They'll still have their sweetheart deal with ESPN, the MWC won't get value off Boise State's home games

Attendance will go up but -  there is a ceiling for this, fans aren't just going to flock to see SJSU play.. low attendance MWC schools have ALWAYS had low attendance, no promises of greater return because of fan engagement but may lose hungreds of thousands of tv money

Incentive To Bail:  Certain schools, like Boise State, Hawaii and San Diego State would be just as well off putting its basketball into the Big West and scheduling as an Independent as this scenario.   Their games off more value than the rest of the league.

Big Sky -  Liberty's rise to the FBS without a conference home is eventually going to lead to an FCS league going FBS in mass, the horses are out of the barn on this. If a group of schools from the Big Sky were able to move up enmass and fill the void left by the WAC in recruiting and on ESPN/CBS by the MWC moving off, there would be a slow turn of recruiting dynamics in the West.



I think this is a lot of talk, MWC wants larger checks and I think they'll get slightly larger ones at the end of the day to maintain status-quo

Winners and Losers - OU Pro Day

Winners:

Jordan Evans - Impressive numbers that put him solidly inside the draft. Would have been a Top 5 LBer at the combine

Geno Lewis - Numbers move him from potential UDFA to a draft selection

Mixon - Numbers were gonna be excellent, we knew that. He has to nail his interviews  then has to live up to the second chance


Losers

Twitter - Seriously.

Westbrook - Numbers fairly pedestrian, seems to rubbed coaches/scouts wrong way with Combine interviews. Going to need to rebound. Probably slid down from a 2-3 to a 4

Pro Day: How to Watch/Follow Along

When: 9.A.M ct

Live Webcast: SoonerSport.tv ($)

Track Results : Here

On Twitter: Twitter  Instagram

Pro Day, Joe Mixon, Hot Takes & You

This time tomorrow a host of  now former Sooners will have wrapped up their pro day experience in hopes of improving draft stock. Nationally there won't be many stories about Geno Lewis' and his clutch plays, nor will there be stories about the resurgent second half of the season Jordan Evans had.


Tomorrow is what I call "Hot Take Day"  Joe Mixon is going to be working out in front of every NFL scouting department and what is rumored to be the largest Pro-Day turnout ever for Oklahoma, even besting the Bradford showcase. Don't expect much by rehashed articles on Mixon, Stoops and co. That's to be expected and yes it is necessary. You'll see some national reporter crack a joke, some reporter will retweet and join in. They'll pile on Stoops for his transgressions (and yes they do exist) simply to get that clickbait. They'll retweet the video with some lame NSFW warning. That's what I've kind of grown weary off these days. No doubt in my mind, a few of the national reporters have their stories drafted, waiting to fill in specific stats from his performance only.

I expect the local reporters to report on Mixon, I objectively have found their coverage to be fair. They're reporters, they're not fans and have no responsibility to report on the program in only a positive light. I don't always agree with them but you won't see local reporters behaving like the above, and it's not because they're under the thumb of OU either (See Westbrook reporting from the TW or any number of critical reports of the Mixon incident from both in state papers). I have a greater respect for that. I expect if the local reporters do link and discuss the video, they'll do so in a much more respectful manner (for the victims sake). Hell I do believe we'll see some quality content on Evans, Lewis and Wade tomorrow, that's how much faith I have in Oklahoma's local media. They'll do both.

It's okay to have a healthy dislike of the media, but don't dump all the people trying to have a legit conversation over Mixon's action with people just in it for ragebait. Support quality sports reporting, ignore the rest.

Don't take the bait kids.

Patrick Fields commits

Union safety Patrick Fields just announced his commitment to Oklahoma, he selected Oklahoma over TCU and Texas among others. This wasn't unexpected.

The kid is an tremendous athlete and will reach "blue chip" status as reevaluations occur during the summer and fall.

Fields commitment should set about a bit of recruiting wave for Oklahoma, as Fields has been outspoken about being a recruiter for his class. Fields joins fellow Okie Brey Walker, along with Cam Rising and Jordon Austin as Sooner commits for 2018

The Bob Stoops Era 5 Heart Defensive Team

Yesterday we looked over the best non-bluechip prospect of the Stoops Era on offense, today is the defense.  The players below played under Bob and were rated three stars or less out of high school

DL- Dan Cody/ Austin English
DL - Calvin Thibodeaux/Larry Birdine
DL -  Charles Walker/Matt Romar
DL- Adrian Taylor/Casey Walker
LB- Jordan Evans
LB - Dom Alexander
LB- Ogbo Okoronkwo
DB - Quinton Carter
DB -  Jordan Thomas
DB - Zack Sanchez
DB- Dom Franks


What jumps out to me: Oklahoma has had its bacon saved due to some "over performing" three star player. There is several ways to look at this issue: The positive is Stoops and Co have done some great scouting and coaching over recent years. The flip side of that is that Oklahoma has been limited in attracting top talent defensively recently due to Big 12 style of play. It was really hard to find defensive players who fit the criteria I set out prior to 2009, then it got a lot easier to fill this out. Thats glaring.

Big weekend coming for Oklahoma?

5th year Graduate transfer WR Jeff Badet previously of Kentucky is visiting Norman this weekend and I've heard conflicting reports that he is on campus already (I'll try to get that firmed up, will post updated if it is confirmed)

Badet is visiting OU now after earlier visiting WVU back in February, Badet averaged almost twenty-two yards per catch in the run heavy Kentucky offense. Highlights below

Getting Badet would allow breathing room for the offense in replacing Dede. Badet would join a  young WR corps and provide an instant outlet for Baker.  Badet  skillset is  extremely similar to Westbrook, deep burner, good in space

Badet graduates and will move on from Kentucky this spring. Oklahoma and WVU both offer a wide open offense to showcase his talents but Oklahoma's WR depth chart certainly needs a proven playmaker a bit more so than WVU right now.


Edit: 3/3 8:04 pm Been made aware of a report by TFB that Badet will take additional trips following this visit, potentially to Va Tech and Oregon. I have no reason to question that report, but am efforting to get that locked down on my end. Still big time weekend visitor.

Double Edit: 3/5 5:10  Have been able to confirm that Oregon visiting is indeed happening. I have heard any rumblings on how his visit went, but when I do expect a post.





The other potential news this weekend centers around OK Preps DB prospect Patrick Fields. Fields announced his Top Three of OU,TCU and Texas early this week. Fields will announce Sunday. I suspect Oklahoma will keep the local star home. Fields plays Safety for Union and as you can see by his film, he is equally comfortable sticking to the hip of the WR and laying the wood. Fields commitment may set off a bit of a big March with in state prep prospects, I'll have a run done on that later at another time.

Edit: Fields committed