Tag: AAC

Sooners land commitment from SMU transfer center Branson Hickman

Former SMU center Branson Hickman committed to the Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday.

With spring ball wrapping up, Oklahoma enters the break with a clear understanding of what their roster needs are before they return to campus for summer workouts.

One of those needs was filled on Sunday as the Oklahoma Sooners landed a commitment from former SMU center Branson Hickman.

Hickman entered the transfer portal in January and already holds his degree from SMU. Oklahoma reached out to him after Troy Everett’s injury, and he visited for the spring game. The visit went well enough this weekend that he committed. With more than 2,400 snaps to his ledger, he’s all but assured a leg up on starting at center this season.

Depth at the center was a significant issue when Everett went down. Joshua Bates was good in the spring game, but the addition of Hickman allows the Sooners to continue to be patient with Bates as he develops.

Hickman spent four seasons with the Mustangs. He started the final 33 games, including 12 in 2022 and all 14 this past season. This past season, he was named to the Rimington Trophy Preseason Watch List, which honors the best centers in the NCAA. He was also a Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference selection this year.

Hickman may be on the smaller side, playing just under 300 pounds this past year. However, his football IQ and technique have been lauded. He should add a lot of stability to the Sooners’ offensive line as they try to stabilize it in front of new starting quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Oklahoma’s commitment to improving their line play before entering the SEC continues with this commitment.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on X @thatmanbryant.

Know the foe: Tulsa Golden Hurricane to know for Oklahoma’s first road trip of the season

Oklahoma is taking on nearby Tulsa this week and here are three Golden Hurricane to know ahead of Saturday’s contest.

Oklahoma enters its third game of the 2023 season 2-0 ahead of their final nonconference game. Oklahoma makes the trip to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane led by former Sooners offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.

Wilson was the offensive coordinator for the Sooners from 2002-2010. There is a healthy bit of respect between Brent Venables and Kevin Wilson. Both worked under Bob Stoops as coordinators for many years. Kevin Wilson left his post as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator last offseason to take over the Tulsa program.

His program is in the process of renovation, but Wilson has done an excellent job getting them ready to go. The team is 1-1 after a win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the opener. They then took a trip out west to Washington, resulting in a 43-10 loss.

On Saturday, Tulsa will be fired up to play the state’s most prominent football program, the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma should win this game, but that doesn’t mean they should take their opponents lightly.

To get ready for Oklahoma vs. Tulsa, here are three Golden Hurricane to know ahead of Saturday’s contest.

Up Next: 3 players to know

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Early execution among the three offensive keys to a Sooners win vs. SMU

Offensive keys to the game when the Oklahoma Sooners take on the SMU Mustangs.

Oklahoma enters Saturday’s matchup with SMU on a four-game winning streak against the Dallas-based institution. The last time these two schools played each other was 1995. Things have changed drastically in both programs since, and it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out on the field come Saturday evening in Norman.

Oklahoma’s offense put on a clinic against Arkansas State and will carry it into this game. Here’s the skinny on this game: expecting Oklahoma to put up another 73 points is highly irrational.

That doesn’t mean Oklahoma shouldn’t be able to score in the 40-point range, but from a pure talent perspective, SMU’s defense is better.

The Mustangs are full of veteran players, and that veteran leadership is precisely why they are one of the favorites to win the American Athletic Conference.

They will be unphased, with 15 seniors starting on both sides of the ball. Many have played at more prominent institutions and seen teams of Oklahoma’s size and talent before making their way to Dallas.

For this offense to uphold its end of the bargain, it’ll likely need to do what we highlighted in our three keys for this week.

Up Next: 3 Keys on Offense vs. SMU

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Notre Dame women’s hoops’ all-time results vs. future ACC opponents

The Irish aren’t far removed from playing any of these teams.

If you’re a college sports fan, you undoubtedly know by now that the ACC will be growing in 2024. Specifically, California, Stanford and SMU are joining the conference. That’s two schools from the soon-to-be-extinct Pac-12 and one from the AAC that seemingly came out of nowhere. Such is the reality of a college landscape that’s changing on what seems like a daily basis now. You can’t really be blamed if you’re having a hard time keeping up with all of this upheaval.

While this decision, like all others these days, was made with football in mind, it also will affect every other sport, including basketball. With Notre Dame being part of the ACC for all sports outside of football and hockey, the time is right to see how the Irish have done against the teams they soon will see on a yearly basis. The meetings aren’t very extensive for any of these opponents, but that’s to be expected:

Notre Dame basketball’s all-time results vs. future ACC opponents

See how the men have done against their future competition.

If you’re a college sports fan, you undoubtedly know by now that the ACC will be growing in 2024. Specifically, California, Stanford and SMU are joining the conference. That’s two schools from the soon-to-be-extinct Pac-12 and one from the AAC that seemingly came out of nowhere. Such is the reality of a college landscape that’s changing on what seems like a daily basis now. You can’t really be blamed if you’re having a hard time keeping up with all of this upheaval.

While this decision, like all others these days, was made with football in mind, it also will affect every other sport, including basketball. With Notre Dame being part of the ACC for all sports outside of football and hockey, the time is right to see how the Irish have done against the teams they soon will see on a yearly basis. The meetings aren’t very extensive for any of these opponents, but that’s to be expected:

3 teams the American Athletic Conference could replace SMU with, including Army

What about Appalachian State? Or North Dakota State? Let’s get weird with AAC, y’all.

Once again, the American Athletic Conference has had one of its teams poached by a Power Five conference. SMU – along with Cal and Stanford – is heading to the ACC.

It’s the latest domino to fall in conference realignment, which has reshaped college athletics since Texas and Oklahoma announced in 2021 they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in 2024. When that happened, the Big 12 turned to the AAC and lured away its best brands: UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. The AAC restocked with refugees from Conference USA, bringing aboard North Texas, Rice, FAU, Charlotte, UTSA and UAB. There was a lot of shifting around in the Group of Five.

SMU’s departure – effective after the 2023-24 academic year ends – leaves the AAC with 13 football-playing members (Wichita State is a full member but doesn’t have football. Navy is a football-only member).

So, if the AAC wants to get back to an even number, where does it look?

Apparently what’s left of the Pac-12 – Washington State and Oregon State – aren’t options the league is still considering. Unlike the ACC, the AAC doesn’t want to expand all the way to the West Coast. Its western-most member at the moment is UTSA.

So, east of Texas, is there a team that makes sense for the American Athletic Conference? We have a few ideas in no particular order.

Washington State and Oregon State will not go to the AAC, shutting down one possible option

Washington State and Oregon State are the only Pac-12 teams left. The AAC rejected them. Only two options appear to be left for WSU and OSU.

Is the Mountain West Conference the only realistic landing spot for Oregon State and Washington State?

We noted a few weeks ago that the Big 12 “would be the first preference for the Cougars and Beavers, but they’re not calling the shots. Brett Yormark is. If the Big 12 shuts the door to WSU and OSU, the merger with the Mountain West might have to be accepted, as undesirable as it might be. Oregon State and Washington State are not in a good position to become independent the way Stanford conceivably could.”

It turns out that the Big 12 does not want Oregon State and Washington State, and that Stanford did not want to be independent in football. OSU and WSU are part of a “Pac-2” now that Stanford and Cal have moved to the ACC. Is it Mountain West or nothing? With the AAC closing the door to WSU and OSU, that seems increasingly likely.

Let’s look at the Wazzu and Oregon State views of conference realignment as it stands:

AAC expresses interest in adding the Pac-12 leftover schools — it makes sense

The #AAC isn’t likely to add the #Pac4 schools, but there’s a clear set of reasons why the AAC would at least try.

A very interesting story broke on Monday. Eric Prisbell of On3 Sports talked to sources who told him the AAC is interested in adding the Pac-4 schools: Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State.

Prisbell said his sources have “direct knowledge of the league’s strategy.”

No one should think the AAC is likely to land these schools. Then again, it never seemed likely the Pac-12 would die until just a few weeks ago. Things don’t seem likely for many months, and then they happen anyway.

The likelihood or probability of an AAC raid of the Pac-4 is something a lot of people will focus on, and reasonably so. However, even if the AAC doesn’t actually grab these schools, there is still value and importance in the act of merely attempting to bring them aboard. We’re going to take you through that thought process and strategy below, as the realignment wheel keeps spinning and we wait to see where the Pac-4 schools will ultimately land:

Sooners take on talented, battle tested ECU team to kickoff NCAA Tournament

Oklahoma will take on the ECU Pirates in their first game of the Charlottesville regional at 6 pm on Friday evening.

Oklahoma has its work cut out. Friday evening, they’ll take the field to play against the best the American Athletic Conference offers in baseball. The East Carolina Pirates are a dangerous and scrappy team fully capable of winning the Charlottesville Regional and moving on to the Super Regionals.

Oklahoma is just a year removed from a magical run to the NCAA championship series in Omaha. Things are very different this time around for the Sooners. Why, you might ask? Well, for starters, they lost so many players from that team.

Josh Callaway of Sooners Illustrated perfectly captures the sheer magnitude of what losses Oklahoma overcame to make the tournament.

On top of those losses, the Sooners had the 16th most difficult schedule in the nation. They are tested and hung in there enough to make the 64-team tournament.

15 of OU’s 31 wins this season came against teams in the NCAA Tournament field. Many detractors will say they don’t belong here, but arguing against their schedule is a difficult one. They enter the tournament winners of 12 of their last 19 games despite their lackluster showing in the Big 12 tournament.

Their opponents on Friday night, the Pirates, should come in locked in after losing a chance at an AAC tournament title and the possibility of hosting a regional when they failed to defeat Tulane. The Green Wave became the worst team ever to make the NCAA tournament after they pulled off a Cinderella run through the conference tournament.

Starting on the mound will be Trey Yesavage, a sophomore righthander who is 6-1 with an ERA of 2.80 and a team-high 98 strikeouts. He is 11th in hte nation in WHIP (0.99) and 17th in strikeouts per nine innings (12.48).

Yesavage is tracking to be a top 50 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, so getting to him won’t be easy.

Offensively, the Pirates were second in the AAC with a team batting average of .292. Outfielder Carter Cunningham leads the way, batting .324. He has hit eight home runs and has 35 RBIs. Five other ECU players are batting over .300. Josh Moylan is the chief run producer with 19 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs, and a team-high 66 RBI.

Oklahoma and ECU have never met on the diamond. That changes on Friday night. The game will be shown at 6 p.m. CT on Friday at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2/ESPN+.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=701601166]

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

Full worst-to-first preseason SP+ conference power rankings

Where does the Big Ten stand nationally in comparison to all other conferences in ESPN’s final SP+ preseason projections?

The Big Ten is generally regarded as one of the nation’s premier conferences. It makes perfect sense, too. In addition to boasting some of the country’s top brands, the actual football being played on the gridiron is pretty dang good as well.

In fact, ESPN’s final SP+ preseason projections rank five Big Ten teams inside the nation’s top 17 and eight teams inside the country’s top 34. Iowa checks in No. 27 nationally according to the final SP+ ratings. Suffice it to say, the predictive model expects the league to feature plenty of the nation’s top teams once more in 2022.

On the surface, those numbers sound great for the Big Ten. How does the Big Ten stack up nationally, though? Where do all of the conferences rank according to Bill Connelly’s final SP+ preseason projections?

Here’s a worst-to-first breakdown of where each conference stands in terms of overall strength per ESPN’s final SP+ rankings.