Latest / The Sooners On SI Podcast / Sooners On SI Podcast 333: Cooper Witten, Recruiting Surge, Combine Winners/Losers and More

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Sooners On SI Podcast 333: Cooper Witten, Recruiting Surge, Combine Winners/Losers and More · The Sooners On SI Podcast

• 0:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: So for everybody, welcome on in.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: It is that time of the week, the suitors on SI podcast rolling here.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: I am Ryan Chapman, sorry for missing last week.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: Apologies, I'll have to go.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Apologies in advance.
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: No John Hoover today.
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to Offseason Scheduling, but don't worry.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: So he got a good crew and a good pod for you.
• 0:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: He or got Carson Field, our man on a mission.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: He's single-handedly is trying to drive the Eliebassma program back onto the tracks into the tournament, Mr. Field, how are you?
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, pretty good.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: It seems like one of us has to miss every week, so hopefully I don't have to a bist for unforeseen circumstances next week, but other than that, basketball team has some life, which I think you would have told us that a month ago you would have laughed in your face, so that's something, but doing pretty well.
• 0:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm hoping we'll see the softball season the crossover all that stuff maybe maybe the radio station will be normal for a day and I'll have a normal schedule again Also got our man Ryan Aber Ryan.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining my invitation to podcast after you did deal with me on Monday Yeah, I guess I can you know suffer through another podcast with you
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: we'll do our best here.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you missed it, Abraham, I already broke down the softball week in that was on Monday.
• 1:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: That should be in this podcast feed on the YouTube.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Whatever you want, we'll get to the North Texas game in some general thoughts as well.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: But that's happening every Monday when we remember.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we did this week.
• 1:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: We've only missed one, but you know, one out of three is not good.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: I guess I'd be two out of three.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: I might hit as well as Lexi McDaniel if that's the case.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: Let's dive into the football first though.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to work in reverse.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: Sooner's at the combine.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: We'll get to that here in a second.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: But yesterday, Oklahoma's 2027 recruiting class got bigger again and a top top in talent.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: Cooper Whitten.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: of the Whitton's of Jason Whitton, OU Titans, coach, he has his son, the linebacker, commits and joins the toint 27 class.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Carson, this is not a totally like Cooper Whitton was not on the radar before Jason Whitton joined the staff or anything like that.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: OU is one of his first divers if not the first major offer in, but one of those spots where maybe Tennessee had wrestled some,
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: Nudge themselves forward in the Derby stuff like that.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: But it turns out Jason Whitten passed his first test as OU assistant coach, not a tie-in, but a line-backer and now that gives Oklahoma two big time guys and Cooper Whitten and Taven Eps as far as the 277 class goes.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, it's a massive pickup.
• 2:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously having Jason Whitton on the staff that helped a lot with the pull of getting Cooper Whitton to Norman seems like a pretty wide open race as you mentioned to OU the first school to offer him in June of 2024, but Tennessee had made a good push.
• 3:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Had him out there a couple times.
• 3:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: the high dollar programs like Texas and Texas A and M certainly made a push, but OU gets it done obviously, partially because of the family connections, but partially because I think he really likes what OU's building the improvement they made from 24 to 25.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: And needless to say, that's just a huge pickup, not just because he's the son of an NFL great, but because of his production at Liberty Christian School, not a massive Texas high school football
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: But 62 solo tackles a handful of interceptions.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, those numbers kind of speak for themselves.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Also played offense.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Don't think he'd do that at the college level, but some with versatility.
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Everything I've heard about the guys he can not only play a lineback or he could play safety if he needs to.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can line up it in if he needs to.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Someone that can do a little bit of everything.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this is just a great pickup.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, you look at it.
• 3:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: Add to a class that's either number one or number two, depending on what service you look at, we usually get just the 24-7 sports composite, their team rankings has Oklahoma at number one.
• 4:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: And Ryan, it's a spot where there's a bunch of different things.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: First off, we knew always that the backend, like trying to close in the 20-25 class was tough, because they were not very good on the field in 2024, trying to get going in the 20-26 class was gonna be tough, because that's,
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: Just by winning games, it wasn't suddenly going to turn a class that had, you know, struggling to maybe come together with some of the top end names into like a top five class, and you get like a Jonathan Hatton at the end of the season.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't think that probably happens right without, at the time, to Mark Lamaray, but also without improved product on the field.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: that you look at this, it's not just a return to the kind of recruiting run where the three classes brim animals had initially, which includes that transition class.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: It was the first time since I think 2017-1819 that the sooner it's had thrown together three top 10 classes, the number six finish was tied for their best since the early early stupes days, but now it's like just when you look at defense and linebackers.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: Danny Statsman, Ben Excellent, Brett Ben Moses, coach some excellent linebackers, Kobe McKenzie, keep blue with stuff like that.
• 5:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: He's not yet gotten his hands on this caliber of a linebacker recruit though at Oklahoma.
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: So highly rated guys absolutely, but this could be a pair of two top 100 guys and top two five guys in the linebacker class by the time it's all said and done.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's pretty incredible, and for a guy who, you know, like you alluded to there, has a soft spot in his heart for linebackers, Brent Venibals, you knew that they were gonna improve at that position, and obviously they've done a great job in developing those guys over the last few years, but to get a guy in like this is a game changer,
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they've clearly taken a step up.
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: You talked about recruiting challenges of the last cycle.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: This cycle, they've got some wind at their back and had that, you know, be the case for a while now, building them momentum.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this might be the biggest piece, you know, you think about what,
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, say Michael Fassucy and Ryan Fogey, getting them did for the offensive line, recruiting, I think certainly this can be a similar thing for the defense for the linebacker group in particular.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, they feel really good, obviously, about this class, but the momentum that they're carrying right now is something that can, you know, help them bring in some more of these, you know, top caliber guys that, you know, maybe you're a little bit farther along than some of the freshmen that they've had come in the last few years.
• 6:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you look at it too, it's a,
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: Got those two, yeah, crew Jones committed already in that group.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: When you talk about building the money spots along the defense, the defensive line, edge rushers, guys that can be at the heart of your defense of the linebacker spot.
• 6:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: You look at Cooper Hackett and Caden Piny, a couple of elite offensive tackles that you don't have to go very far whatsoever for that.
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: And, of course, it feels like Oklahoma's trading in the right direction for a couple more guys, especially if you read some of the tea leaves around the college football recruiting ecosystem.
• 7:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it does.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And Tyson Ross, one of those guys, offensive linemen from Kansas.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's a three star, not as big of a prospect as say hack it, Penny, but still another tackle that they could add to this recruiting class.
• 7:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: That would if they got him bring them up to four tackles, which
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's huge after they didn't get a tackle in the 2026 class, and then Jalen Scott a safety from Alabama.
• 7:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's close friends with Jamison Roberts, a quarterback that'll use well in the mix for so if they could get Jalen Scott, that would be a big piece and maybe getting Jamison Roberts to come to Norman too, so just a lot of moving pieces, but a lot of things just seem like they're going the right way of recruiting wise for you.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Roberts is who certainly been our buckle seems to be centered around and he's a guy that not quite I know that if I bring up a jackson order comparison, people can be like whoa what's that what do you mean as far as a guy that has continually risen every time there's a re-ranking I think a lot of Oklahoma fans back in the Arnold recruitment
• 8:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: Followed his re-ranking level up level up level up all the way up to you know the lead 11 stuff I don't know if that's in the future for james and robbers, but it certainly feels like Oklahoma feels there It a good spot there and he's a guy that as more and more eyes or two him more and more people like yeah That's a pretty good prospect there.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know without like a
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: number one quarterback receiver combo type situation if in today's recruiting world Oklahoma can stay in that number one spot but I don't think it's any stretch the imagination that this could close as a top five class if they continue to rattle along the way that they are and at a place like Oklahoma it's never been about do you have the number one recruiting class it's do you have an elite recruiting class that did you work on development and that is what
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: Bob Stoops always did.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Now, Switzerland today is a little bit different, but development there, certainly, but it's kind of the thing that Texas collects the five stars Oklahoma develops.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: So let me know that that's kind of the model that you need, and that is what Oklahoma hopes that they're on, especially with.
• 9:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: I just find it continually fascinating that you have been in the old school with the new.
• 9:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Brent Venables, we knew he's an animal over a cruder, and now you're just arming him with,
• 9:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: a larger staff with Jim Nagy staff you're saying hey you missed out on your top-end guy here's three or four more e-values as far as that goes it's not just the portal classes that Jim Nagy and his recruiting staff are working on and his front office staff executive working on so it has been a very very profitable very very good dynamic so far in the 2027 class and something that's going to help that is if Oklahoma has a really really nice NFL draft
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: The combine has come and gone and I would say a pretty solid weekend all around.
• 9:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: We saw Owen Heinecki.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: He had his appeal to Nye that was worded by George Doyle over at sooner school.
• 10:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Heinecki kind of talked about that at the combine.
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: It seems like he's the guy.
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: If he wanted to sue, I think he'd have all the grounds on it, but he seems kind of at peace and ready to move forward.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: While he might not have jumped off the charts testing, it looked like his drills went really, really well.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think anyone that talks to Owen High and he's gonna be really blown away by that.
• 10:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you're talking about pure testing numbers though, Oklahoma had a trio of guys that truly pop.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: First off, Grace and Holtton was the first guy out for the defensive tackles.
• 10:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: He merely posted the third highest vertical leap for a defensive tackle since 2010, only behind PJ's older brother in Al Woods in 2010 from LSU.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: as far as defensive tackles go.
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: Robert Spears, Jennings rolls out there and just shreds on the 40.
• 10:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then Deon Berks had an excellent 40.
• 10:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: He was one rep on the bench away from a setting a new receiver record, a tie the new receiver record, tying it, I think tying the receiver record at 27.
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: Either way, Ryan, when you look at guys that need to go out there and test really, really well, I think that Oklahoma ticked those boxes across the company.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: And for that, she had a
• 11:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think just a really impressive showing by those guys, and you know, I talked about it a couple of weeks ago when we were previewing this that I thought Dion Berks was a guy who really had something to prove and could, you know, really elevate his draft stock with some good performances and.
• 11:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: that speed, which, you know, we knew that there was speed there, but I don't think we expected that kind of number so pop out of this.
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think Deionberg certainly made himself some money there, Grayson Houghton, that vertical leap number is just off the charts.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: uh... i think what was it like two-and-a-half inches higher than any other uh... uh... defensive linemen in the the combine this year uh... not to dimension of historical uh... frame work that you mentioned there uh... you know this is a guy that
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: you combine the measurables with the on the field production we saw consistently over his time and I think we all expect our Mason Thomas to be the first sooner off the board but I think Grace and Halton has got a chance to go you know fairly high fairly early maybe not first round but you know in this first two or three rounds and has a chance to play in the NFL a long long time and make himself a lot of money.
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought maybe Robert Spears Jennings was a guy that
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, maybe he had the most to gain from a performance like he had, I think that that's Certainly one that wows you But certainly a good day a good week for the sooners up there and you know, it'll be interesting when we get to pro day Here locally how many of those guys go through drills?
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, what they do and you know, what kind of performances we see there, which is generally, you know, on the higher end Then what we see at the combine
• 12:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: not sure for a guy like a Kindle Daniels.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: We know that he had stepped away from some of the senior circuit stuff, just to sound like a little bit of a tweak.
• 13:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: He didn't really do a lot of testing Dominic Williams as well.
• 13:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't know if that's going to be too close to the combine just to put up some of those numbers.
• 13:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: We know that Kindle Daniels certainly has the potential to be another guy that has some eye pop in numbers as well as Dominic Williams.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: Carson, for Grace and Halton, he's going to be a really, really important guy, I think.
• 13:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: If this were maybe 10 years ago,
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, I don't know how much, if you'd kind of be pigeonholed into, okay, is this a luxury type defensive tackle that's just, uh, quick past structure stuff like that, but, uh, just talking with our pal Kelly Greg over at the franchise who played defensive tackle for a long time for the Baltimore Ravens, he, he sees the league moving more in Holden's direction, which is only going to be help for him as far as how much shotgun has played these days, but
• 13:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: you look at it.
• 13:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: The only black market seems for Oklahoma was nothing to do with how Armace and actually tested.
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just that he said he wanted to run a four four.
• 14:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: It didn't quite get there.
• 14:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: He wasn't slow by any means, but he just didn't quite put the four four on the board.
• 14:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, that's, I don't think that's just going to pull him at the draft stock of our Mason Thomas.
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you will get his last two years of tape.
• 14:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: That speaks for itself.
• 14:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: He also is not someone that has just a ton of size for the defensive in position, but he has shown time and time again his athleticism, his burst, his ability to finish plays.
• 14:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't think his stock really changed much, but looking at Halton,
• 14:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think kind of touching on what I ever said, he's someone that might have gone from a day three pick to a day to pick just based on how well he did in Indianapolis.
• 14:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: You look in similar concerns, questions about his frame, not massive for an NFL defensive tackle by any means, but the guy can move the guy can jump.
• 14:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it kind of seemed like at first he'd go kind of under the radar.
• 14:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: That might be a steel pick later in the draft.
• 14:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now everybody is aware of him.
• 14:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's going to end up reading him to being a day to pick.
• 15:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Whether that second round or third round.
• 15:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then Dion Berks fascinates me.
• 15:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think obviously the 40 numbers speak speaks for itself.
• 15:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: The production never really matched what a lot of a youth fans thought it would.
• 15:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: But certainly I think someone's going to give him a chance.
• 15:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: earlier than later in this draft, I'm curious to see what he can do with the next level.
• 15:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, he also just, he's one of the really weird cases where two years ago just banged up injured, he tried to come back, he made it back onto the field for the Missouri game and then just got obliterated again there.
• 15:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I think everyone kind of understands that.
• 15:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then this year, it's like a, he has his two biggest games against Michigan and then the Joshua
• 15:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: perfectly coincides with the fact that his quarterback broke his hand and every single player on the team outside of Isaiah satania had a dip in production that coincided with the job at your hand.
• 16:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I think that's going to be something that, you know, we know Deon and talking to Deon is always a joy.
• 16:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if you'll find someone that's a more positive guy than Deon perks.
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think some of the like production stuff is almost an easy explain away where it's like it's not even like excuse me, you just this I was hurt.
• 16:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: and then uh look at what i've loved to catch the boss sure but i stayed locked in i delivered in big big big moments including the LSU game like i think that's going to be something that in a weird way uh if you get the right couple of guys that are looking at of the NFL that almost might be a
• 16:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: When he talked about, hey, he's not going to be like the predator, just a Jefferson, Jamar Chase off the board type guy.
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: You're telling me, oh, this guy's going to work as butt off to continue to contribute to the team.
• 16:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think that's going to be a positive.
• 16:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I can't wait as we get further along here into draft season.
• 16:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: We go to catch up with a lot of those guys here next week, probably when we got pro day and all that stuff.
• 16:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: So should be good on that front, but
• 16:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: It is March, so we are going to stop in here at the Lloyd Noble Center as we've got one tournament about to fire out.
• 17:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: The SEC Women's Basketball Tournament is actually underway today.
• 17:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oklahoma will be in action tomorrow.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Before we stop into any of the tournament stuff, though, Ryan, I have a question for you, and if you could walk me through some stuff, I'd be super, super happy if you could.
• 17:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you've got a player.
• 17:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: who wins eight SEC fresh for the week honors.
• 17:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: You have a player who was voted as an SEC all second team selection or all SEC second team selection by the coaches themselves.
• 17:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Who is a freshman?
• 17:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: You have another player who's a fantastic freshman on a fantastic basketball team.
• 17:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: but who those same coaches who voted on all the stuff said was not an all SEC second team player they were just merely a freshman team player yet it's uh... out of yvon from Vanderbilt who wins SEC fresh for the year and not alia chavez can you make that make sense for me pretty please
• 18:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think you're asking me to do the impossible and just you take out the any of the arguments about the players and everything because Gavin is a fantastic player, she's going to be a great player in this league for a long time.
• 18:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So his shove is, you know, it's not that Gavin is unqualified for the award when you separate that out.
• 18:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's the fact that a Leach shove is on the second team
• 18:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: and Gavin isn't anywhere near there or on it at least.
• 18:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: It just doesn't make any sense.
• 18:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think voting should be consistent.
• 18:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's clear that some coaches at least weren't consistent in their votes, cause if they were, they would,
• 18:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: you know, they would line up there.
• 18:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's the biggest problem.
• 18:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have with it just the framework of how can you say that a player is on the second team, but yet is the only freshman on the top two teams and not be the freshman of the year.
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the consistency that Chavez showed over the season, you know, sometimes they're shooting, took a little dips,
• 19:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: in this league is pretty incredible and that the shooting has been, you know, right up there, you know, not maybe what, 37.9, which is a little bit under what Gavin had, the assist and steel numbers obviously from Gavin really good, although not the Chavez is bad, and either of those categories, just be consistent in your voting.
• 19:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Don't try to, I think there's people who try to like,
• 19:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: balance things out a little bit by voting one here and the other here, which doesn't make any sense to me.
• 19:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, and I also have a problem with just the SEC in general going 10 players on the first team.
• 20:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just pick a team and call it, you know, pick four teams if you want and have 40 players on there or 20 players on there still, but, you know, let's have some integrity about the thing, but definitely a head scratching selection there, but
• 20:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Alia Chavez will have a chance to approve it on the court plenty more times during the course of her career both against Vanderbilt and against everybody else in the SEC who had part of those votes
• 20:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and it's one of those things too that like the if you just run I understand that the people that vote on the play of the week is not just like the coaches so that's like okay you're if we were doing this and that or whatever then it would have been different all that stuff but I mean to me the player the week argument is is a good one from afar but I
• 20:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, if you break down each of those weeks, there can be a week where it's a Gavin only had one game and and Chavez had two really good ones, so she gets there, but the maybe the weeks when Chavez didn't win it, she was way down.
• 21:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying that was the case, but because we know it wasn't at least over a stretch, but I think that one can be explained away a little bit more easily than the second team versus freshman of the year awards.
• 21:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: Especially, as you said, when they honored like 70 players, it felt like it was your scrolling through.
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: Not making sake of anybody.
• 21:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: Anyway, oh, you'll be in action against Florida as Florida's fashion Mississippi state at the first time of the SCD tournament.
• 21:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: For Jenny Broncheck's money, she said, for Chavez, it was business as usual.
• 21:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: It practiced on Tuesday, which I don't think anyone was.
• 21:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: Expecting something different than that or anything like that, but we will see as Oakland gets going there The important thing truly the important thing You'll back to Sunday in CIA selection committee release their second top 16 Oakland ahead moved up to number 12 on that which makes them a three seed
• 21:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Crucially means that if everything goes chalk you don't have to face a one-seed tell the elite eight Now here's what I'll come a could be playing for I don't know if they're gonna go from like a three line to a two line But if you can take care of it as you can explore it on Thursday and then repeat what you did a year ago Which was inter the SC tournament on a win streak
• 22:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: A Vinge in a 5-4 game, a loss from the regular season last year.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's Kentucky.
• 22:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: This should be LSU.
• 22:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe you can move up and by moving up, you can move from one of the Sacramento regions to a 4th region and go Norman to 4th.
• 22:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Worth in the NCAA tournament.
• 22:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: That could certainly be good.
• 22:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you're not able to do anything and the two or three teams right behind you, maybe you drop back down to a 4 line.
• 22:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: So a lot to play for at the SEC tournament this weekend, can't wait to get that thing going.
• 22:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: A lot to play for.
• 22:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: stunningly for Porter Moser and his program on Saturday.
• 22:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: They are now themselves riding a streak of streak where these games have been borderline dominant performance.
• 22:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: It may be not, I mean, I don't really look at Florida.
• 22:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's hard to be like, if that's dominant, then if it's not quite that, they've been really really good.
• 23:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: They've been comfortable performances.
• 23:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Carson, uh, they take down Missouri, avenge that.
• 23:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: They, uh, took down LSU.
• 23:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: They've only trailed for like three total minutes in the last three games, which has been impressive as well.
• 23:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: Carson Porter Mose or says it.
• 23:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: There is a path.
• 23:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: You just have to believe in the path.
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: Now, for me, the path may still be a trapeze line over like, uh, it's no longer a 50 foot gorge.
• 23:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's more just like, you know, 20 foot drop.
• 23:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: But,
• 23:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Vocal and beat's text is we can actually start to wrap our head around intertainted discussion of how many games in Nashville do you have to win?
• 23:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's not the SEC tournament, which is an insane place to be for one of this thing was a month ago.
• 23:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I will be honest after that game last night.
• 23:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mapped out the route from Norman to Dayton, see what that drive looks like because it is a possibility more than we thought it would be a month ago.
• 23:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: This team is playing really good basketball right now.
• 23:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Five of the last seven games.
• 23:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Both of the losses coming against two of the better teams in the league and then stealing games against.
• 24:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: a really good Vanderbilt team, good Georgia, Missouri teams.
• 24:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: This team is kind of doing what we thought they could do heading into conference play.
• 24:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: The shooters are like good, moody, Ramadan mo something about that.
• 24:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: He just seems to play better during Ramadan.
• 24:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's real!
• 24:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's a real thing!
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is playing fantastic right now a lot of credit to him because I have mentally have been very critical of his game at times, but he's been fantastic, dating four sites, been a big spark off the bench.
• 24:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's just complete, it's just complete basketball right now, which that was so absent for a nine-game stretch and you have to.
• 24:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: you wouldn't be talking about they need this Texas games a must win necessarily.
• 24:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: If they would have simply taken care of business against Mississippi State and South Carolina, two other worst teams in the conference, you will get some of those other losses in that stretch.
• 24:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, Arkansas.
• 24:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: order really dang good.
• 24:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bam was a tough out always.
• 24:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: A&M's better than expected this year.
• 24:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you can justify a lot of it.
• 24:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Those two still stick out is like, that's going to be the thing that keeps them out assuming they don't make a big run in the SEC tournament.
• 25:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, the Texas Games huge Texas played really good basketball lately.
• 25:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: winning there would be another quad one win.
• 25:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: If they win one or two an SEC tournament, who knows what the committee is thinking?
• 25:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: The bubble is it's definitely a pretty weak though this year.
• 25:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: You look at teams like Seaton Hall, USC, Indiana, better resumes as I'm right now, but not substantially.
• 25:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the biggest problem though comes to the sense that
• 25:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: OU would have to jump one of A&M Missouri or Texas probably to get in the field and I realistically don't see that happening split with Missouri lost both to A&M but they'd split with Texas if they win on Saturday and all three of those teams have much better conference records than OU so that doesn't work in the favor of the sooner but they did beat Auburn which I don't know how they're still on the bubble but they are according to Leonardo
• 25:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: They do have the head-to-head win in that one that is a positive metric, but I still think it's going to take a lot to get there.
• 26:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, can I throw in something here real quick?
• 26:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of what you said right there is right Carson, but I think a lot of people focus in on conference records.
• 26:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we've seen with OU several times, both in the long Kruger era, and then also the last few years when they've been right on that bubble.
• 26:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: that the conference record, I think doesn't matter to the committee as much as it matters to a lot of other people.
• 26:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And obviously the scheduling this year wasn't the strength that it's been in the past, especially back under long-crewer when Mike Shepard put the schedule together when they were able to sort of sneak their way into the tournament a couple of times because of scheduling
• 26:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: the the committee's history over the last 15 or 20 years and oh use history that they've been able to get there with pretty soft conference records at times obviously this conference isn't what the big 12 was the last few years or what even the SEC was last year so that dynamic changes a bit but I do think it's important to keep that in mind here that as oh you at least
• 27:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: is in the conversation, which is something that I don't think any of us thought we would be sitting here on March 4th, talking about them as being even a possibility here just a few weeks ago.
• 27:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Part of the fun or not of putting together a bracket for a 68 team tournament is you have to find 68 teams to invite to the tournament.
• 27:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think we saw that last year boys that year one
• 27:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: a bunch of mega conferences meant that in years past, we've seen, hey, if you go into conference tournament time, whether you're a team that's fighting to be like on a three line or a two line, unless you win the tournament, it usually doesn't change a lot.
• 28:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: We've seen years where if you're on the bubble, unless you win the tournament, usually doesn't change a lot.
• 28:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: But last year, Texas is an example of this.
• 28:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: They were out when they lost to OU and they regularly see some finale.
• 28:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: They go win a couple of games in Nashville and they worked their way back in,
• 28:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Everyone on the bubble do a certain sip on the power conferences.
• 28:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: Probably has a bad conference record because the conferences are still big and cantaloupe themselves So we will see for me.
• 28:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's all about and I think everyone let's see what they do on Saturday And if they went on Saturday, then I'll actually start to puzzle it together But we will see there.
• 28:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just a car says you said it kind of unbelievable that they're in this spot But hey rob it on mo Nigel Pat can't miss it.
• 28:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's a squad dating foresight with a I'll be ankle much less to help the ankles
• 28:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: And if nothing else, a really nice way to send out some of those guys on senior night to kind of not just let go of the rope and and get that thing going here.
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: Um, elsewhere, it was a really busy just Tuesday in general.
• 29:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, Oklahoma.
• 29:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: Slays the dragon.
• 29:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: DPU comes to town for a midweek.
• 29:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: We know in years past, DPU can like line their ace up with that.
• 29:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: No Oklahoma has to go, but Carson, eight arms out of the pin, kind of a shared bullpin day for Skip Johnson's crew.
• 29:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: And not a single one of those guys ever really felt like they got into trouble.
• 29:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: The 203, it's the first home shut against DPU since 2010, I believe, booked the rooms in Omaha.
• 29:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: That was, I know, a lot of people were waiting for it.
• 29:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, what you did at the Shrine is just great.
• 29:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: Can you win on a cold humid night Tuesday night in Norman America against DBU the answer that is yes
• 29:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they got it done, which I know the history is not great against the Patriots, but winning that game's big, even if DVU isn't quite to the level that they usually are that still a good baseball team and probably will be playing well into June.
• 29:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: So that's big, and I think the bullpin is gonna be a strength this year.
• 30:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Just seeing that second game against Arizona State last week, I was there in person for that.
• 30:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: ASU have the lead for pretty much the entire game until the end and the bullpen helped keep them within reach to rally in the ninth inning.
• 30:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Bodins are really good pitcher.
• 30:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jackson Cleveland looks like he might be the closer the guy to finish some of these games off when they do start to matter a little bit more when the SEC starts that's next week by the way coming quicker than you'd realize.
• 30:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this team does look really good though obviously you don't
• 30:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't want to lose a third game of the series to Gonzaga, that's not great.
• 30:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't want to get beat down like you did on Tuesday against Arizona State, that's not great.
• 30:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: But all in all, it's baseball.
• 30:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a 60 game season.
• 30:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to lose some.
• 30:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Even the teams you might see is inferior competition.
• 30:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's just the way the sport looks.
• 30:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Look what LSU did against Northeast from the other night.
• 30:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: It happens, but I think the bullpins really encouraging.
• 30:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: The line-up still looks really good, really powerful between date and talky date and with chance.
• 31:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some of those guys jacks will, it's obviously beating the star that he is.
• 31:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think this team has a lot to be encouraged about.
• 31:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, midweek carnage is kind of the name of the game in college.
• 31:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: But it's the second one unless you strap it.
• 31:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think in the midweek, if you go back to that big niche game a couple of weeks.
• 31:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think the good news, too, is a couple of things like that second ASU game, you saw that this group has the ability to take a bad day, flush it, bounce back,
• 31:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, you could be the number one team in the country.
• 31:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: You're going to have a couple bad weekends in SEC play.
• 31:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's the nature of the beast.
• 31:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: And also, you saw in that second ASU game on Wednesday and then last night, Oklahoma, all the other games they've played when or loss have not really been particularly close.
• 31:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: The two pretty close baseball games that they've been in there, two victories there.
• 31:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: And that's back to you against ASU last week.
• 31:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then that TVU game, which I think is a great sign for Skip's crew as they move forward.
• 31:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: And as you said, Carson, SEC play
• 31:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: A four game stop-in for games.
• 31:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think Miss Santa Clara let's hope thinkers cross on Friday that the weather holds off as we were looking at maybe our first severe weather weekend of the year Usually they're pretty on top of that move and stuff around over at Kimory family.
• 32:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Say they love to feel if they can Oklahoma softball will have four games scheduled to a good solution in a two against abling Christian Abracen's you and I stop down and and broke down the weekend that was
• 32:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: There was a little midweek trek out to Denton where all they did in the fourth inning was sent 15 to the play at score 10 runs on nine hits, including not one, but two is about emirling home runs, emirling came up in the fifth inning and parked one over the foul pole, patty gasso talked to every umpire, she tried to appeal to get that.
• 32:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: turned into her third home run, which should be the second time this year, the emirling has had a three home run game.
• 32:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, oh, he's now hit 91 home runs, which is clearly on pace to shatter.
• 32:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: All the records can dwells hovered in the first.
• 32:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: She now has 16 home runs.
• 32:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: The freshman record is 30.
• 32:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: She has played 22 games.
• 32:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: The freshman record again is 30.
• 32:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: She has played 22 games.
• 33:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, my little chania goes out has three really nice innings.
• 33:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Pretty bad ining that I know that Patty Gassos hit Brason Carly Keenier kind of want to Tweet there, but Avery just as you look ahead A couple games against Louisiana and coming up another min week where the Sooner's take the show on the road and park stuff all over I 35 It feels like Oklahoma I don't know if it's gonna get to like 200 or something like otherworldly like that But I think the record chase is gonna be something we are tracking all your long
• 33:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, yeah, well, I don't know if we're going to be tracking it all year long because I don't think it's going to take all year for them to get it.
• 33:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I did a record watch story the other day and looked at some of the big ones.
• 33:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: The ones you mentioned, the home run record, the runs record, the freshman home runs record and heck, at this point you've got a maybe start thinking about at least the home runs record,
• 34:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: with the way that kind of wells is just pummeling the ball of other place, but right now, right now as we sit on March 4th, March 4th, OU's 91 home runs is 10th in program history.
• 34:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's already in the top 10.
• 34:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we haven't even started conference play here.
• 34:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's absurd.
• 34:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's every other thing you could mention.
• 34:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's ridiculous, absurd, unbelievable, inconceivable.
• 34:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: all of it for them to have this many and, you know, likely by this weekend, I would think that it's probably not going to be a problem for them to get over that 100 mark, which would not only raise them up the list significantly on the OU record, but would at least start to get into the,
• 35:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: 109 would get them in the top 25 all time for a season and again haven't even started SEC play yet so I think this record is going down if I had to put money on it right now because of sorry this is obviously something that we've talked about a lot and we will talk
• 35:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot harder for that power to go into a slump because it's not just relying on, you know, Jocelyn Allo and TR Jennings to put up massive home run numbers.
• 35:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's top to bottom, it's, you know, Kindle Wells and Ella Parker and Gabby Garcia down to Cheney Hilton and
• 36:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: They hit their 100th home run in the Arkansas game at the SEC tournament.
• 36:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: a year ago.
• 36:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: They are going to hit their hundredth home run in the second weekend of SEC play if I had to guess based off of what we've seen.
• 36:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, hold up.
• 36:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're saying that this weekend and next May but still don't have nine home runs that way.
• 36:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: That might be, I, I, I, I, I'm, my putting on bet is hundred happens this weekend.
• 36:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll see if at what?
• 36:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here's, I mean unless you have like
• 36:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, here's the other speaking.
• 36:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's about how many games are they able to get played over there?
• 36:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's true.
• 36:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: As far as that gets going, because it might be, I don't know, the weather looks a little bit better today than it did the start of the week.
• 36:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: Friday, we might have to move some stuff around, but who's to say, yeah, I kind of pippewed the 200 number.
• 37:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: I still have probably pippewing the 200 number.
• 37:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, that would be shattering the record by 25% of what the old record was.
• 37:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not going to say no.
• 37:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not going to say that.
• 37:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not absurd.
• 37:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like it was a couple weeks ago.
• 37:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: We will see, but hey, let's leave it here for today, boys.
• 37:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: We got a busy week at Heds.
• 37:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: We back with the next Wednesday, everyone has stopped in and count up every single home run on Monday.
• 37:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: Have up that.
• 37:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: We'll do that.
• 37:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: You got a busy week and out there, two gazoozias who is ably Christian.
• 37:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: wrap it up here.
• 37:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think we'll have a ton of football to dive into next week and hopefully we'll have the full squad to do it.
• 37:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: But big thank you as always to Carson Field, Brian Avery.
• 37:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: We will be back soon as I podcast next Wednesday.
• 37:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: Talk to you.