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Big 12 notebook: Oklahoma State loses lot of starters in transfer portal; Title game staying put

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Big 12 notebook: Oklahoma State loses lot of starters in transfer portal; Title game staying put


ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Oklahoma State lost at least eight starters among the 18 players who went into the transfer portal since last season. The Cowboys also added 14 players from the portal.

“I attribute it to the times,” coach Mike Gundy said Wednesday at Big 12 football media days. “We can look across the country in the portal. We’ve got players that are playing on national championship teams that are leaving and going to other schools. We have players that are leaving after one year, players that are leaving after five years.”

Five of the Cowboys that left went to other Big 12 schools, including offensive tackle Caleb Etienne to league newcomer BYU and running back Domic Richardson to Baylor. Long-time starting quarterback Spencer Sanders went to Ole Miss.

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Two Oklahoma men are facing criminal charges after scuffling that broke out when the two allegedly tried to control access to a State Board of Education meeting.

In this 1921 image provided by the Library of Congress, smoke billows over Tulsa, Okla. An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice by survivors of the deadly racist rampage. (Alvin C. Krupnick Co./Library of Congress via AP)

An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice by survivors of the deadly racist rampage.

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Brooks Koepka watches his shot from the 16th tee during the second round of LIV Golf-Valderrama golf tournament Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Sotogrande, Spain. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)

Brooks Koepka is accusing LIV Golf teammate Matthew Wolff of quitting on the course. Koepka is captain of Smash. Wolff is among his three teammates.

First-place individual champion Talor Gooch, of RangeGoats GC, poses with the trophy after the final round of LIV Golf Andalucía at Real Club Valderrama, Sunday, July 2, 2023, in San Roque, Spain. (Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf via AP)

Talor Gooch is a winner for the third time this year in the LIV Golf League. The former Oklahoma State player made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau in LIV Golf-Valderrama.

“For a while there I thought it was interesting, but I’m almost considering NIL and the portal like religion and politics where it’s not even worth discussing because we don’t necessarily have a rhyme or reason for what’s happening,” Gundy said.

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LEAVING A CHAMPION?

Texas has been tabbed the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 in its final season before moving to the SEC.

“It won’t be awkward for us,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said of the pending move. “We’ve got a roster full of players who quite frankly came to the University of Texas to try to win a Big 12 championship, and we’ve got one more opportunity to do that, and I think our guys are focused on that.”

The Longhorns have won the Big 12 three times, including the inaugural 1996 title. They were also conference champs in 2005, when they were the last Big 12 national champions, and in 2009.

Kansas State, which beat national runner-up TCU in the Big 12 title game last December, was picked second, ahead of departing Oklahoma, Texas Tech, the Horned Frogs, Baylor and Oklahoma State. Texas got 41 of the 67 first-place votes in the media poll, while K-State got 14.

Each of the Big 12’s four newcomers — BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — were picked to finish in the bottom half of the standings.

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STAYING PUT

The Big 12 championship game will remain at AT&T Stadium through at least 2030.

Commissioner Brett Yormark said the six-year extension announced Wednesday allows the league to host its title game “at a world-class venue in our own backyard.”

Yormark also said that for the first time this year, the game will include a halftime show featuring a major artist and the participating school bands that will be part of ABC’s television broadcast. The artist will be revealed around Aug. 12, when tickets go on sale for the Dec. 2 game.

The Big 12 hasn’t played its title game anywhere else since AT&T Stadium opened in 2009. After games in 2009 and 2010, the conference didn’t have a championship game the next six seasons before resuming it in 2017.

HOUSTON’S BIG 12 QB

Houston enters the Big 12 with a quarterback with a lot of experience in the league.

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Texas Tech transfer Donovan Smith, a dual-threat QB, played in 21 games for the Red Raiders over the past three seasons.

“I felt like it was important to bring a guy in with experience, with Big 12 experience. We did that at a number of other positions,” Cougars coach Dana Holgorsen said. “Donovan has impressed me. I think his best days are ahead of him.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean Smith will be the successor to Clayton Tune, who threw for 11,994 yards and 104 touchdowns over 47 games for the Cougars the past five seasons. Houston also has returning backup Lucas Coley.

“They’ve been 50/50, and we knew they were going to be 50/50, and they’re going to continue to be 50/50 until one just makes it clear,” Holgorsen said.

IMPROVING KANSAS

Kansas has eight wins in its first two seasons under coach Lance Leipold. The Jayhawks won only nine games combined the six seasons before that.

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They were 5-0 last year and had their first Top 25 ranking since 2009 before quarterback Jalon Daniels got hurt. They finished the regular season 6-6 and made their first bowl game since 2008, losing 55-53 in triple overtime to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.

Leipold said last year was a big step forward for the program and showed the resiliency of the team. He wants his players to embrace expectations while keeping their focus on now.

“I think this group gets it,” he said. “But at the same time, for a program like Kansas, we need to embrace some of those things, expectations and the positivity that’s surrounding our program.”

REMEMBERING HIS DAD

Baylor coach Dave Aranda’s father died this week from pancreatic cancer.

Aranda said he had a great relationship with his father, and knew his father loved him without him ever really openly saying it.

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“I remember when he called me and told me that he had pancreatic cancer and it was Stage 4, I told him that I loved him and he didn’t say it back. I don’t know if he heard me,” Aranda said. “So I wanted to go and say it to him face to face. I was able to do that. He gave me a big hug. … He wouldn’t let me go, and he kept really strong and he told me that he loved me.”

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25





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What TV channel is Oklahoma Sooners football on today?How to watch streaming on demand

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What TV channel is Oklahoma Sooners football on today?How to watch streaming on demand


The Oklahoma Sooners host the Maine Black Bears in late-season non-conference action. Kickoff is slated for 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 2 with a live TV broadcast exclusively on ESPN Plus.

WATCH: Oklahoma vs. Maine football is streaming live only on ESPN+

Oklahoma plays host to FCS opponent Maine this morning, with both teams coming in with 4-4 records. Oklahoma has dropped four of their last five games, putting them near the bottom of the SEC standings. A win here won’t change that, but this team clearly needs a momentum shift heading into a showdown with Missouri next weekend. Senior QB Carter Peevy leads the Black Bears, who have won three of their last five.

What TV channel is Oklahoma vs. Maine football on today?

When: Kickoff is set for 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT) on Saturday, November 2

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Where: Memorial Stadium | Norman, OK

TV channel: SEC Network Plus on ESPN+ (Not available on traditional broadcast TV, only streaming on ESPN’s live sports streaming platform. Here’s a look at how you can watch ESPN+ live on your TV.)

Watch live stream online: You can watch a live stream of this game for less than $12 on ESPN+ (It’s just $11.99/month or $119.99/full year subscription, and you can cancel anytime.)

What TV channel is SEC Network Plus on?

SEC Network Plus or SECN+ is not a TV channel. It is basically it’s on division within ESPN Plus for SEC games that are not airing on TV, but are SEC games airing exclusively on the ESPN+ streaming platform.

What does SEC Network Plus cost? What does an SECN+ subscription include? SEC Network Plus is a part of ESPN Plus, so as long as you are signed up for ESPN Plus, you will see every SECN+ game available to stream on the watch ESPN app when you sign in or sign up for the ESPN+ service. ESPN+ costs just $11.99/month and you can cancel anytime.

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Oklahoma vs. Maine spread, latest betting odds

Spread: OU: -34.5 | MAINE: +34.5

Over/Under: 46



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Arizona State vs Oklahoma State football game to kick off early due to weather concerns

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Arizona State vs Oklahoma State football game to kick off early due to weather concerns


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The football game between Oklahoma State (3-5, 0-5) and Arizona State (5-2, 2-2) at Boone Pickens Stadium has been moved up from 4 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. due to weather concerns.

Between six and eight inches of rain is expected in Stilltwater later in the day.

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The Sun Devils have not played in poor weather conditions yet this season. The forecast all week has called for rain so the Sun Devils did practice with wet footballs.

The game is Oklahoma State’s homecoming game.

The game will still air on the FOX broadcast network (Channel 10) in Arizona and Oklahoma. The game will also be seen on FS2 and the FOX Sports App across the rest of the country.

The Kansas State-Houston game that is also scheduled for 12:30 p.m. will air on FOX in all markets outside of Arizona and Oklahoma and be available on the FOX Sports App to fans in all markets.

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Oklahoma-Maine Preview: One Big Thing

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Oklahoma-Maine Preview: One Big Thing


NORMAN — This week really is all about one thing for Oklahoma: staying healthy.

Oklahoma should obliterate Maine on the scoreboard Saturday, and neither the team nor Sooner Nation should read too much into OU’s margin of victory.

Mired in a ragged season, OU’s motivation might not seem very high for stepping out of Southeastern Conference play

That’s not the case, said linebacker Dasan McCullough.

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“This team, we’re just wild dogs ready to go bite at this point,” McCullough said. “We’re just ready to play, ready to against whoever, whenever.” 

As a program playing in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), the Black Bears are limited to 63 athletic scholarships (there are 112 players on the roster). And while 100 percent of the players who received scholarships are good football players, only one of them was offered by an SEC school (DB Jayden Curry was courted by Texas A&M before beginning his career at South Florida and then transferring to Maine). The disparity in athletic talent is, strictly speaking, unfair.

(A caveat: Historically, Maine has four wins against FBS opponents, beating UMass in 2021, Western Kentucky in 2018, UMass in 2013 and Mississippi State — yes, of the SEC — in 2004.)

This Maine squad comes in 4-4 — that’s double the Bears’ win total from each of the last two seasons — with some impressive wins over FCS No. 5-ranked Villanova (35-7) and No. 21 Albany (34-20). But they’ve also suffered four double-digit defeats.

“I’ve got respect for them,” said OU cornerback Dez Malone. “I think we all should. That’s the last thing you want to do is kind of fall asleep on an opponent. This still is the game of football.”

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The Black Bears do have 20 graduate students and six seniors on their two-deep, which seems to cause concern on Brent Venables’ part. They also have four FBS transfers — two of whom are backups, two of whom don’t appear on the two-deep.

“What does that mean? They’ve got a lot of experience,” Venables said. “Nobody cares. We’re focused on Oklahoma like we always have been.”

The Black Bears’ depth chart does show some capable bodies. Maine’s defensive line averages 273 pounds per man, and the offensive line averages 307. All eight defensive backs are 5-11 or taller (six are listed above 6 feet). 

But this will be a mismatch.

Once the Sooners establish that a comfortable victory is secure — start of the third quarter, perhaps, or maybe a couple possessions after halftime — it’s time to dump the bench.

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“Big opportunity,” said linebacker Kip Lewis. “Big chance to get momentum for this next stretch, this next run. And so we gotta come out here and capitalize on it.”

Expect significant snaps for QB Michael Hawkins, and maybe even Casey Thompson could finally see his first action in Crimson and Cream. Jaquaize Pettaway, Zion Ragins, Zion Kearney, Ivan Carreon and Jacob Jordan should all have a breakout day catching the football. OU should get its first 100-yard rusher of the season, and then should expect another — maybe Sam Franklin

And most importantly, Isaiah Autry-Dent, Eddy Pierre-Louis, Eugene Brooks and Josh Aisosa should expect to play significant snaps on the offensive line. For that matter, if Daniel Akinkunmi is healthy enough to play and in shape enough to hold up, this would be a great time to unleash him into the world of American football.

This is when Bill Bedenbaugh finds out if those freshman can play, and that’s big because the offensive line in its current iteration isn’t good enough to push the Sooners across the finish line and into a bowl game. Bedenbaugh needs to start thinking about the future, and that starts Saturday.

OU needs to make a bowl not to keep alive its 24-year bowl streak, but to be able to schedule up to 15 more practices, where those young players can get frontline reps and really start to show improvement for 2025 and beyond.

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“It’s actually pretty important because, win this (and) we’re one more closer to getting to a bowl game,” said defensive end R Mason Thomas. “I know that’s huge because we have a bowl streak going back a long time. We’re not trying to look forward, but we know we have to win to make a bowl.”

“We’re going to keep fighting until the season’s over with,” said wideout J.J. Hester. “That’s what Coach V emphasizes, and we’re just going to keep going.”

Oklahoma started the season with high hopes but now begins the final third of 2024 with a 4-4 record and, at 1-4 in league play with a daunting finishing stretch of Missouri, Alabama and LSU, is in danger of finishing at the bottom of the SEC standings.

“What’s in the past is in the past,” Thomas said. “We’ve got to move on and if we’re going to let last week and the week before or the weeks before that define what we can do this week, then we might as well forfeit all the rest of the games.”



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