Tag: FTW Explains

3 Oklahoma players have been suspended for CFP semifinal game against LSU. Here’s what we know.

Three Oklahoma Sooners players have been suspended for the Peach Bowl game against LSU. Here’s all we know.

Welcome to FTW Explains: a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world.

This week news broke that three Oklahoma Sooners players would be suspended for the Peach Bowl, the game vs. LSU that will act as the semifinal for the College Football Playoff.

It’s a devastating blow for Lincoln Riley and his Sooners team, as they were already underdogs heading into the game. LSU enters the game undefeated, with Heisman winner Joe Burrow starting at quarterback and running one of the best offenses in the country.

What happened? To whom? And how is it going to affect the semifinal game?

Let’s get to your questions and sort this whole thing out.

Who is involved?

Three players for the Sooners have been suspended. Defensive end Ronnie Perkins, running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and wide receiver Trejan Bridges.

What did they do?

Not totally clear as of now. The Athletic’s Jason Kersey first reported it was a “rules violation” that led to their suspension, then had sources tell him it was due the three failing a drug test. That is just a report as of now, and has not been confirmed by the school or the NCAA.

What did their coach say?

Not much. Oklahoma’s head coach Lincoln Riley gave a textbook non-answer, saying “”I’m aware of the report that is out there. Unfortunately at this time, I cannot comment on it.”

Is Oklahoma screwed?

This sure doesn’t help things. The Sooners were 14-point underdogs before the suspensions happened. Perkins is considered the team’s best pass rusher, with six sacks this season and 38 total tackles, 13.5 of them for a loss.

Stevenson is just one of three healthy scholarship running backs on the Sooners right now, so they will only have two for the Peach Bowl without him. An injury, and things get hairy for the Sooners at the running back position.

Going against a fearsome, No. 1 ranked LSU team? This isn’t going to help anything.

So they’re going to get destroyed, huh.

Who knows. Football is a funny old game, you know? Crazy things happen. It all gets settled on the field. Other cliches.

Yeah, no, LSU should win this game.

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What the heck happened with the bizarre James Harden dunk that somehow didn’t count?

We explain it all for you.

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world.

On Tuesday night, the Houston Rockets lost 135-133 to the San Antonio Spurs in double overtime. There’s nothing too out of the ordinary about that … except for the play that happened with 7:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.

James Harden ended up with a steal and nobody with him, so he casually dribbled the length of the court and slammed home the ball.

Except the ball bizarrely appeared to go in and out of hoop and eventually out of bounds. Replays showed it absolutely 100 percent went through, but it got caught up in the netting after, which created an optical illusion in real time.

But it didn’t end up counting. Why? We’ll break it down.

What did the play look like?

Wait, THAT didn’t count?

Nope!

Don’t they have instant replay in the NBA now?

They do.

So didn’t Mike D’Antoni ask for a replay?

He said he did.

And he didn’t get it?

That’s part of a whole other complicated answer. Crew Chief James Capers told a reporter that it’s a reviewable play, but that D’Antoni missed the “window” in which he was allowed to challenge during a timeout.

Is that what D’Antoni said happened?

No. From the Houston Chronicle:

“They said the ball hit James and went back through, so it was goaltending on James,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “So, I said, ‘I challenge that.’ Then, I didn’t get a response. Then, another guy said it wasn’t a goaltending. It went out of bounds on us, so I said, ‘I’ll challenge that.’ I didn’t get an explanation. I got nothing.”

So what are the Rockets going to do now?

The Chronicle reports the Rockets are “weighing protesting” the game.

What might the result be there?

Hard to say! The NBA could rewind the game back to that 7:50 mark and replay the end of the contest from there. The league could overturn the Spurs win, or just say that it was official error, a mistake was made and unfortunately, that’s how it is. But in a tight Western Conference, there’s a scenario in which that might be the one game that perhaps cost the Rockets playoff seeding.

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