Sooners’ target Malachi Coleman includes Oklahoma in top 7

The Sooners remain in contention for 2023 ATH Malachi Coleman, who includes Oklahoma in his top seven.

You can’t teach size, and 2023 four-star athlete Malachi Coleman has size in spades. Out of Lincoln, Neb., the top 100 prospect, stands 6-foot-5, providing an incredible catch radius for quarterbacks to get him the ball.

Looking to wind down his recruitment, Malachi Coleman released his top seven, which includes Nebraska, Oklahoma, USC, Michigan, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Georgia.

While the Cornhuskers look to be the heavy favorites to land Coleman, don’t count the Sooners out just yet. They’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the 2023 class in [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] and one of the best offensive coordinators in college football in [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag]. That’s a great situation for a player of Coleman’s talent to land.

In addition to his size, Coleman has blazing speed, running a 10.46 100-meter dash as a junior. He also competes in the triple jump and the 200-meter dash. Additionally, he plays varsity basketball for Lincoln East.

Here’s what Midlands Region Recruiting Analyst for 247Sports, Gabe Brooks had to say about Coleman.

Unique, high-ceiling football player with outstanding athleticism and physical tools. May need some time to physically and technically develop, but potential is through the roof. Projects as a high-major recruit with the long-term upside to get drafted, possibly in the top half.

Malachi Coleman’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • 100% of Rivals FutureCasts project Coleman lands with Nebraska.
  • On3′ Recruiting Prediction Machine gives Nebraska a sizable advantage.
  • 100% of crystal ball predictions favor the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the moment.

Film

 

Hudl

UGA football offers 4-star USC WR commit

The Georgia Bulldogs have offered a scholarship 2024 wide receiver recruit Jason Robinson.

The Georgia Bulldogs have offered a scholarship to wide receiver prospect Jason Robinson, who has committed to the USC Trojans. Robinson is a member of the class of 2024 and is a four-star recruit.

Robinson committed to USC on Sept. 25, 2021. The four-star receiver has scholarship offers from top college football programs California, Penn State, Miami and Florida State among others.

The USC Trojans commit plays high school football for Long Beach Poly High School in Long Beach, California. Will the 5-foot-11, 160-pound receiver stick to his commitment?

The rising junior still has plenty of time to think about his college future. Robinson is ranked as the No. 245 recruit in the class of 2024. The crisp route runner is ranked as the No. 36 receiver.

Jason Robinson announced his scholarship offer from Georgia football via Twitter:

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Where do the Oklahoma Sooners rank in study of largest college football fan bases?

Where do the Oklahoma Sooners fall in a study of estimated fanbases in college football?

As a football program, few programs have had as much success or more than the Oklahoma Sooners in their history. They’ve been the powerhouse in the Big 12 for the last two decades, winning more conference championships than the rest of the programs combined.

Nestled in the heart of Oklahoma, the Sooners have built themselves into a blue blood program thanks in part to the work of Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops, and yes, even Lincoln Riley. They’re a team synonymous with winning, offensive football, and Heisman trophies.

They’ve never been a flash-in-the-pan program. While the Sooners have had short-lived periods of poor play on the field, they never lasted long, and rarely did it mean a losing season. According to College Football Reference, the Oklahoma Sooners have had just 11 losing seasons in their 114-year run. That’s a remarkable run of success. By comparison, the Texas Longhorns have had 17 losing seasons in their history.

That record of success has helped them build one of the largest college football fanbases in the country despite their home state’s small population.

Strategy analyst Tony Altimore underwent a process to analyze the fan bases  of Football Bowl Subdivision teams, and the Oklahoma Sooners came in at No. 17 in the study.

Here’s what they looked at in their study:

Includes inbound conference teams only, excluding some newly promoted FCS teams lacking prior data. Source: New York Times and NYT 538 studies of fanbases in 2011 and 2014 and of Vivid Seats ticket sales data in 2014, normalized with 2020 U.S. Census data and Google trends data and multiple studies of overall national CFB fan support. Inputs from each study are averaged based on number of inputs to avoid penalizing (primarily G-3) teams not included in all three studies. – Tony Altimore

Ohio State came in at No. 1, followed by Notre Dame at No. 2. Texas, with Oklahoma heading to the SEC, had the third-biggest fanbase in the study’s estimation. Coming in ahead of Penn State at No. 4 and Michigan to round out the top five.

The new-look SEC fared very well in the study as 15 of the 16 schools made the top 40 in estimated fan base. Vanderbilt, who has struggled in football in recent seasons, was tied at No. 63 with the Big Ten’s Northwestern, who was the only school in the new-look conference outside the top 50.

While Texas has a sizeable advantage in the fanbase size, one must also consider that the state of Texas has a much larger population than Oklahoma. It’s the age-old discussion about why Oklahoma has so many players from Texas on the roster. There’s simply a larger player pool to recruit from.

The study has certain limitations, which is why it’s an estimate. The studies used are nearly a decade old. However, it’s interesting to see how the teams and leagues stack up based on the numbers involved. It’s unlikely things have changed so radically in support that teams would drop off, but that’s not to say things might look different if they were based on more recent numbers, were they available.

It’s not surprising that the SEC leads the way in average fanbase per school, followed by the Big Ten. Those two conferences are considered one and two in unofficial rankings of the Power Five. It’s also not surprising to see the Big 12 fall to fifth among the Power Five, with Texas and Oklahoma shifting to the SEC.

Because this study came out before the moves of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, it’s not been updated to reflect the recent realignment. However, when you add the former Pac-12 schools, they still lag behind the SEC.

And when you take out USC and UCLA from the Pac-12, they still rank ahead of the Big 12 in average fanbase per school by more than half a million.

The ever-changing landscape of college football has led to discussions about brand recognition and drawing power. With that, let’s take a look at the top 25 schools in estimated fan base according to this study.

Report: USC and UCLA to make move to Big Ten

WOW…Major moves in collegiate athletics…

Multiple sources have confirmed reports that USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac-12 conference for the Big 10.

The move comes just one year after Texas and Oklahoma announced a move from the Big 12 to the SEC, beginning in 2025.

Reports say that this next shift of collegiate athletics will take place as soon as 2024 with official announcements on the way.

This move essentially creates ‘Mega-conferences’. The SEC and Big Ten have taken the nation’s best programs in the last calendar year while the ACC, Big 12 and Pac 12 are sitting on the sidelines.

What does this mean for the future of collegiate athletics in terms of scheduling, postseason and recruiting?

Much like how NIL (name, image and likeness) has thrown a shadow of doubt over the traditions of college athletics, we just don’t know how these major moves will impact the game moving forward.

 

Several of 247Sports ‘Boldest Predictions’ provide interesting outlook for the 2022 Oklahoma Sooners

247Sports shared 10 of their “boldest predictions” for the 2022 season and several of them left a lot to be desired for the Oklahoma Sooners.

We’re under three months away from the start of the 2022 college football season, making this time of the year the time to get a little crazy with some  old prognostications.

With only spring ball to provide context about how we feel about certain teams across the country, some educated guesses are required to predict how the 2022 season will transpire. And sometimes you put it all on the line with bold predictions.

Well, Brad Crawford of 247Sports took it a bit further and provided his “10 boldest predictions” for the 2022 college football season. And several of the predictions have a Sooners’ twist.

First, Crawford takes a wild stab with Nebraska starting the season 5-0 and beating Oklahoma in the Sooners trip to Lincoln. The Cornhuskers were a college football darling after being dubbed “the best three-win team in college football history” in 2021.

Sure, the two sides played a close game in 2021 with Oklahoma coming out on top 23-16, but do all those close losses signify that Nebraska will be a better team in 2022? Crawford thinks so.

Not to apply any additional pressure on Scott Frost this season, but Nebraska’s late-September game against Oklahoma in Lincoln is arguably the most important of his coaching career up to this point. Frost’s contract buyout changes significantly Oct. 1 according to new language and that’s a barometer game for which he’ll be judged moving forward against a former Big 12 rival. There’s a good chance the Huskers will be 3-0 going into that one if new quarterback Casey Thompson is the real deal and Nebraska is able to take advantage of a soft early-season slate. With an open week before Big Ten foe Indiana coming out of the Oklahoma game, pencil in the Huskers as 5-0 and the talk of the conference going to Rutgers Oct. 7 as a bold prediction. – Crawford, 247Sports

Casey Thompson was solid in the first half against Oklahoma last year helping the Longhorns jump out to a big lead after two Spencer Rattler turnovers. However, is he going to be a better player with Nebraska than he was with Texas?

He’s solid, but he won’t have Xavier Worthy to throw to or Bijan Robinson to hand the ball of to, which will make life more difficult for the one-time Texas quarterback.

Up next: First-year coach making the biggest splash

Where do Oklahoma and their 2022 opponents rank in updated ESPN SP+ ratings?

How do the Oklahoma Sooners and their 2022 opponents rank in ESPN’s updated SP+ ratings?

It’s projection season, and the Oklahoma Sooners are the favorites in the Big 12 several months from the start of the 2022 regular season. According to ESPN’s SP+ ratings (ESPN+), the Sooners look like one of the best teams in the country.

SP+ considers returning production, recent recruiting results, and recent history of success. With departures for the NFL and through the transfer portal, the Sooners were No. 71 in returning production in February.

Their recruiting has been excellent in the last five years, regularly finishing with top 15 classes. While they lost quite a few of those recent signees to the transfer portal, Brent Venables and his staff did an excellent job of retooling their roster through the portal to account for the losses on the roster. That’s part of why the Sooners are still so highly thought of.

And despite not winning the Big 12 in 2022, the Sooners still finished the season with 11 wins, the seventh time they accomplished such a feat in the last nine seasons. They had nine wins during the COVID-19 season. Though they were never able to break through to a national championship game, the Sooners have been one of the most successful teams in the country over the last decade.

Heading into 2022, the Sooners’ strength of schedule should allow for them to stack up quite a few wins. According to the FPI, the Sooners’ strength of schedule ranked No. 42 in the country and No. 8 in the Big 12. 247Sports ranked it as the sixth easiest among 2022 contenders.

Some of that can be reflected in their schedule for 2022 relative to ESPN’s SP+ ratings. They have three opponents on their schedule that rank outside the top 100 in SP+; Kansas, UTEP, and Kent State. The highest-ranked team on the schedule is the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Though they won just three games in 2021, they’re a team that many think highly of heading into 2022 (for some reason).

The highest-ranked Big 12 team is the Texas Longhorns. With their offense, Texas should be really good in 2022. If they can improve upon one of the worst defenses in the country from 2021, they’ll be a contender in the Big 12 as long as Quinn Ewers lives up to the hype.

Defending Big 12 champion Baylor comes in at No. 40, the fifth highest-rated team in the Big 12. They lost a lot of talent to the NFL, like the Sooners did, but seem like a team due for a bit of regression after going from two wins to Big 12 champs in one season.

Taking a look out west, the USC Trojans look like a team that will depend heavily on their offense. They rank 24th in offensive SP+ and 84th in defensive SP+. While it will take time for Riley and the Trojans to rebuild a four-win team from 2021, some of the same problems may persist for Oklahoma’s former head coach.

Let’s take a look at how Oklahoma’s 2022 opponents (and USC) rank in ESPN’s SP+ ratings.

Oklahoma Sooners No. 9 in PFF’s way-too-early 2022 power rankings

The Oklahoma Sooners come in at No. 9 in Pro Football Focus’ way-too-early power rankings for the 2022 college football season.

Though much is being made of the Oklahoma Sooners’ turnover this offseason, the Sooners remain the team to beat in the Big 12 and will be a contender on the national stage in 2022. At least that’s the story the way-too-early power rankings tell.

Oklahoma has shown up at the top of the Big 12 in most early power rankings this offseason. If it wasn’t No. 1, it was No. 2. As Pro Football Focus takes its stab at the way-too-early rankings, the Sooners come in No. 9.

(Dillon) Gabriel has fantastic touch downfield, and that trait led to major passing success. He earned 80.3 and 90.4 passing grades as a true freshman and sophomore in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Lebby’s offense won’t ask Gabriel to do too much and will take advantage of the quarterback’s strengths. – Treash, Pro Football Focus

[autotag]Gabriel[/autotag] is a big reason the Sooners aren’t expected to experience a drop-off in team performance from the 2021 to 2022 seasons. His experience and production at UCF were a massive addition for the Oklahoma Sooners, who lost both [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag] to the transfer portal.

There would have been options to add a transfer quarterback, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one with the production and game experience Gabriel brought to Norman. Gabriel’s touch and deep ball accuracy will be huge assets for the Sooners and specifically wide receiver Marvin Mims, who has yet to have a 1,000-yard season but has led the Sooners in receiving yards each of his first two years in Norman.

Wide receiver [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] is expected to carry a large load in the offense. Mims has yet to be a full-time starter, but his skill set and level of production as a true freshman and sophomore were too good to ignore. He owns an 86.5 receiving grade, 19.1 yards per catch, 3.14 yards per route run and a 143.8 passer rating when targeted since 2020. Over that span, Mims has turned 34.4% of his targets into a gain of 15 or more yards, the third-highest rate in the Power Five. – Treash, PFF

Mims will lead the way, but the Sooners have capable players such as Theo Wease, Drake Stoops and Jalil Farooq to ease the burden of Oklahoma’s No. 1 wide receiver.

Let’s take a look at PFF’s top 10.

2 nonconference matchups 247Sports is dreaming of for Oklahoma, plus 2 more we’d love to see

Taking a look at who 247Sports is dreaming of as nonconference opponents for the Oklahoma Sooners and two more that we’d like to see.

When the Oklahoma Sooners played Ohio State in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, everyone knew the challenge OU faced, but it was an awesome opportunity to prove it was a legit contender in an early season test.

Conference play makes up the bulk of the schedule, and those are the teams we talk most about. However, nonconference play and the great matchups it provides is one of the best things about college football.

Alabama will travel to Austin and face the Texas Longhorns for one of the most highly anticipated games in 2022. If the Sooners are still in the Big 12 in 2023, they’ll face the 2021 national champion Georgia Bulldogs in nonconference play. Those are going to be incredibly fun matchups.

The Sooners current home-and-home series with the [autotag]Nebraska Cornhuskers[/autotag] created a lot of buzz and excitement when the former Big 8 and Big 12 rival returned to Norman for the first time since 2008. And the tightly-contested defensive battle lived up to the hype. As OU gets set for the return trip to Lincoln, that game will grab national attention as well.

As we look to the future, 247Sports’ Nick Kosko shared nonconference matchups that he’s dreaming of and Oklahoma makes the list twice. Also below are two nonconference matchups that we’d love to see.

Georgia football offers elite HS running back

The Georgia Bulldogs and running backs coach Dell McGee have offered a scholarship to elite high school running back Jordon Davison.

The Georgia Bulldogs and running backs coach Dell McGee have offered a scholarship to elite high school running back Jordon Davison. Davison is a member of the class of 2025.

Jordon Davison plays high school football for Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. Mater Dei is one of the nation’s top high school football programs. JT Daniels, Matt Leinart, Bryce Young, and more have played football for Mater Dei.

Additionally, four-star class of 2022 running back Raleek Brown played for Mater Dei. Brown ended up signing with the USC Trojans. Mater Dei is one of the top programs that feeds talent into USC. Davison will see more touches now that Brown is leaving.

Jordon Davison is currently unranked due to his young age. He is only a freshman in high school at the moment. The 6-foot, 205-pound running back has scholarship offers from USC, Oklahoma State, California, Oregon State, Penn State, and more.

Here is a look at one of Davison’s top runs from this past season. He displays good balance and vision on this cutback touchdown run:

Davison announced his scholarship offer from Georgia football via Twitter:

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