Tramel's ScissorTales: Caleb Williams? Spencer Sanders? Who is all-Big 12 quarterback?

Who is the best quarterback in Big 12 football?  

That hasn’t been a question in recent years. Since Lincoln Riley got to Norman, the answer always has been whoever quarterbacks the Sooners – Baker Mayfield 2015-17, Kyler Murray 2018, Jalen Hurts 2019, Spencer Rattler 2020. 

Oh, last year was at least debatable. The Associated Press named Rattler its all-Big 12 quarterback. The coaches’ vote went to Iowa State’s Brock Purdy. 

Before the Riley era, Big 12 quarterbacking was deep and wide. Most teams had a quality quarterbacking, and several teams per year had a star. Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Zac Robinson, Chase Daniel, Josh Freeman, Brandon Weeden, Robert Griffin III, Collin Klein, Geno Smith, Bryce Petty, Geno Smith, Trevone Boykin. Lots of good QBs. 

But in 2021, the quarterback river is thin. 

The Friday ScissorTales study the teleconference answers of College Football Playoff committee chairman Gary Barta and checks in on the Ohio State-Michigan showdown. But we start with the perplexing 2021 season of Big 12 quarterbacking. 

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Big 12 Pregame: All-Big 12 QB 

Rattler lost his job to freshman Caleb Williams, who was spectacular early but has been mundane late. 

Texas has vacillated between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card. Texas Tech has started three QBs. TCU has started two.  

Iowa State still has Purdy, but he’s just been so-so as a senior. Kansas State’s Skylar Thompson has been limited by injuries. Veterans Gerry Bohanon at Baylor and Spencer Sanders at OSU have led their teams to great success but without great individual play.Williams leads the Big 12 in passing efficiency, but he’s started just five games and has been woeful each of the two games, when OU’s competition has stiffened. Williams has delivered some big runs. 

Texas Christian’s Max Duggan is second in pass efficiency but hasn’t distinguished himself much and has missed the last two games with injury. 

Texas’ Thompson is third. Rattler is fourth. K-State's Thompson is fifth and might be the pick had he not missed the equivalent of three games, and his status for Friday at Texas is questionable. 

Purdy is sixth and might be the all-conference quarterback by default. Bohanon and Sanders rank 7-8. West Virginia’s Jarret Doege is ninth. 

So who’s the all-Big 12 quarterback? The answer is, there are no good candidates.  

And Sanders and Bohanon are perfect examples of quarterbacks who have managed games and avoided mistakes enough to keep their teams winning. 

Heck, a big game by Sanders in Bedlam on Saturday night could propel him into the discussion. You never know. 

OU at OSU football:Score predictions, TV info, weather & more for Bedlam

Upset Special: Matt Campbell stays at Iowa State 

I saw no Big 12 games that warranted an upset pick this week, so here’s an upset for you – this won’t be Matt Campbell’s final game at Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium. 

This is the final home game for a batch of Cyclone senior stars – Purdy, Mike Rose, Charlie Kolar – and perhaps the end of an ISU era that stamped the program as relevant. 

Seems like a perfect time for Campbell to jump a bigger job. He’s been mentioned as a candidate for jobs in both college and the National Football League.  

But Iowa State’s disappointing season – the Cyclones are 6-5 after starting the year ranked in the top 10 – has cooled some of the interest. Which is silly. 

Campbell is an outstanding coach who has done remarkable work at Iowa State.  

Prospective universities like Southern Cal would be foolish to overlook Campbell simply because the Cyclones have disappointed this season. 

But administrators do foolish things. Here’s an upset: Campbell is back with Iowa State next season. 

Tramel:Would OU be SEC-bound if David Boren still was the Sooners' president?

Coach on the hot seat: Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell 

Cincinnati did not enter an exclusive club this week. The Bearcats created an exclusive club. 

The College Football Playoff committee ranked Cincinnati No. 4, which puts the Bearcats in territory of making the four-team bracket, which will be unveiled December 5. Cincy is the first team outside a Power 5 Conference or Notre Dame to be ranked as high as fourth. 

But UC is not assured of a berth, even if it wins out. A 12-1 Big 12 champion, in particular, would lay claim to passing Cincinnati for the spot. 

And of course, the Bearcats still must win out to retain its top-four ranking. Cincinnati plays Houston next week in the American Conference Championship Game. But before that, UC plays at East Carolina on Friday. 

The Pirates have their best team since Lincoln Riley left ECU after the 2014 season. East Carolina has had six straight losing seasons, but the Pirates are 7-4 this year. They’ve beaten Marshall and Memphis, and played tough in losses to South Carolina (20-17), Central Florida (20-16) and Houston (31-24). 

UC coach Luke Fickell has done a tremendous job building the Bearcats into a national contender, which made Cincinnati an obvious pick for Big 12 expansion. 

But Fickell is under the gun Friday. He’s got to keep his Bearcats focused on East Carolina, when even bigger prey is around the corner. 

'You have to set your past aside':Bedlam dominance nice, but Sooners say it's a minimal help vs. OSU

Ranking the Big 12 Games 

1. Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: The Bedlam rivals have played all other Big 12 foes. Both OSU and OU had similar performances against Texas, Kansas State, TCU and Texas Tech. OSU clearly had better performances against West Virginia, Kansas and Baylor. And while OU beat Iowa State 28-21, and OSU lost to Iowa State 24-21, those games were down to the wire. All of which explains why the Cowboys are favored. 

2. Texas Tech at Baylor, 11 a.m. Saturday, Fox Sports1: Bears quarterback Gerry Bohanon is questionable for the game. 

3. Cincinnati at East Carolina, 2:30 p.m., ABC: Since 2001, the Bearcats are 9-1 against the Pirates, losing only in 2017, 48-20. 

4. West Virginia at Kansas, 6 p.m. Saturday, Fox Sports1: Most KU games are ranked this high, but a win makes the Mountaineers bowl eligible. 

5. Kansas State at Texas, 11 a.m. Friday, Fox: K-State once dominated the series, but the Longhorns have won four straight. 

6. Texas Christian at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m. Friday, Fox Sports 1: Two massively disappointing teams. The Horned Frogs need a win to get bowl eligible.

7. Brigham Young at Southern Cal, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPN: Until last year, BYU hadn’t posted a double-digit win total since 2011. Now the 9-2 Cougars can make it two in a row. 

8. South Florida at Central Florida, 2:30 p.m. Friday, ESPN: I know it’s hard to fathom, but USF once had the upper hand in this series, which is tied 6-6. 

9. Houston at Connecticut, 11 a.m. Saturday, CBS Sports Network: UConn has hired Jim Mora Jr. to rebuild the football program, which means Mora must really want to coach football. 

'It’s not over until it’s over':How Caleb Williams led an improbable comeback long before joining OU football

Mad scientist vs. offensive genius:Who wins the battle between OSU's Jim Knowles and OU's Lincoln Riley?

Gary Barta talks committee rankings 

The College Football Playoff committee rankings are more relevant this year than ever before with both Oklahoma schools under playoff consideration. Committee chairman Gary Barta, the Iowa athletic director, conducted his weekly teleconference earlier this week. Here’s the full transcript, with my reactions. 

Barta opening statement: “This was our fourth meeting for the CFP Selection Committee this year. You've seen our rankings, Georgia 1, Ohio State 2, Alabama 3 and Cincinnati at 4. Undefeated Georgia continues to dominate, to just play great football on both offense and defense, so they came in at No. 1. Ohio State, following its incredible performance against a good Michigan State team, is No. 2. The committee was certainly impressed by their win on Saturday. Alabama comes in at 3 coming off a relatively close win against Arkansas. In the eyes of the committee, that result when you combined it with Ohio State's performance against Michigan State resulted in the ranking of those two teams. Cincinnati was previously ranked 5. They won again. Their victory over a good SMU team combined with Oregon's loss led the committee to rank Cincinnati at No. 4. Oregon, Michigan State and Wake Forest all dropped in our rankings, and that's probably not a surprise. That's a reflection of how soundly each team was defeated last week in combination with the teams around them winning their games. We will return next week for our second to last ranking, and as always, just appreciate the hard work of the committee.” 

Tramel: We know we’ll get at least two top-10 losses this week, with Ohio State-Michigan and Bedlam. So there should be plenty of changes next week. 

Q. You described Ohio State's performance against Michigan State as incredible. Were you guys looking more for how they played on defense, or were you more blown away by what they did on offense, which obviously is not the first time they've done something like that? 

Barta: "It certainly gets your attention, though, when they're up 49-0 at half. They had three receivers all over 100 yards for the game, and C.J. Stroud played great again. I will say this, though. You mentioned their defense. They were able to hold -- we all know that Kenneth Walker is a great running back, and Ohio State was able to hold him pretty much ineffective. 

Some of that had to do with once the score got away, I think Michigan State had to play a little different. But to your point, solid performance both offensively and defensively.” 

Tramel: When you lead a top-10 team 49-0 at halftime, you’re paying attention to it all.  

Q. With No. 5, could you try to give your summation of the committee's consensus about Michigan? 

Barta: "Michigan, we've talked, especially the last several weeks about just them being a complete football team. They're well balanced. Their offense and defense are both ranked nationally in most categories. Their best win to date is at Wisconsin. They also had a good win at Penn State. Very good football team, well-balanced, and obviously looking forward to watching Ohio State and Michigan play this weekend.” 

Tramel: I have Oklahoma State ranked ahead of Michigan. OSU has the better victory (over Baylor, which trumps Wisconsin), while the Wolverines have the better loss (Michigan State; the Cowboys lost at Iowa State). 

'This game means everything':For Oklahoma State's in-state defensive linemen, Bedlam rules

Q. Just wondering what the thoughts of the committee are with all three of the Big 12 teams. They're now bunched up pretty tight, and there's a chance you're going to have kind of a merry-go-round schedule over the next two weeks. How strong could potentially the survivor of that be? 

Barta: “Well, I don't want to predict how strong the survivor will be. You make a good point. You have Oklahoma State at 7; they've beaten Baylor. You have Baylor ahead of Oklahoma and you have Oklahoma 10-1, their (OSU) only loss to a good Iowa State team. You're right, they're fairly bunched close together. There’s games to be played among that group. I think you know my answer about projecting. I'm not going to project forward other than to say that we get to see some good football ahead.” 

Tramel: The committee teleconference is a very good journalism class. Barta is not going to speculate about the future, and a question about the future is an easy out for him to avoid a meaty subject. Interviewing is a skill. Don’t ask the wrong question. Don’t ask Barta to speculate. You’re wasting your time.  

Q. And the conference championship, the value on that still? 

Barta: “It continues to be another piece of information, datapoint, whatever you want to call it, that the committee will certainly pay close attention to. Those are generally games against two really good football teams, so it'll be an important piece of the evaluation in that last ranking.” 

Tramel: I hope Barta misspoke. I’m going to ask him about this next week. He was asked about the value of a conference championship, and he called it “another piece of information, datapoint, whatever you want to call it.” That is not right. A conference championship is one of the guiding principles the committee is tasked with using. This is from the committee bylaws: “The committee will select the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparable teams by considering conference championships won, strength of schedule, head‐to‐head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory) and other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.” A conference championship is a major criterion – the first LISTED criteria – the committee is asked to consider. It is not a datapoint. 

Q. Just curious, Clemson entered the rankings for the first time this week. Obviously, that was in large part due to their three-touchdown blowout win over No. 10 Wake, but I'm also curious how much you looked at their losses, all three of their losses being on the road to ranked teams and all three really close, including the 10-3 loss to Georgia with Georgia having blown out everybody in the SEC including a few ranked teams. How much do you weigh those close losses? How much do those factor into your determination of Clemson being ranked? 

Barta: “We definitely talked about it, and we did talk about how Clemson played Georgia in that first game, their other losses against Pitt and North Carolina State. To your point, they played -- they didn't have a bad loss. Their best win was the win this weekend. Prior to that, they really didn't have a signature win. One of the things, though, the committee has been impressed with, Clemson has been playing really strong defense all year, so even though they haven't been in the top 25, the committee has been watching them every week.” 

Tramel: I don’t know why anybody would be asking about Clemson’s ranking somewhere in the 20s, but if you’re going to tell the story of Clemson, tell it all. The Tigers have a bunch of close wins and three close defeats. They are closer to 7-4 of 6-5 than 10-1. 

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Q. I heard you say on TV that Cincinnati was viewed with the pod it's in and the one below it, as well, and I was wondering if you could shed some more light on how the committee weighed their strength of schedule, which as you say has been a topic of conversation every week with the win at Notre Dame and obviously you said they looked good against SMU. How difficult was that conversation? 

Barta: “I don't want to say it's difficult, but as you know, we have 13 people in the room, and there's a lot of opinions. The discussion goes back and forth. What I meant, and for everyone listening, we look at these -- when we rank, we look at groups in pods. So we did compare Cincinnati upward with Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia. But then we also had them on the board with Michigan and Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. The fact is there's only three undefeated teams left, and Cincinnati is one of those, Georgia and UTSA being the other two. The win against Notre Dame at Notre Dame has always impressed the committee. The strength of schedule is always a conversation with Cincinnati. It still was a conversation this week, but they played an 8-2 SMU team, and not only did they play them, but they controlled both offensively and defensively. Just a week ago, the committee had Cincinnati ahead of Michigan, and Michigan played at Maryland, they won, Cincinnati beat an 8-2 SMU team. So when we have all the discussion and then eventually there's a vote taken, the vote came out with Cincinnati ahead of Michigan again, 4 and 5.” 

Tramel: Lots of rhetoric there that doesn’t mean much. But it was quite interesting that OSU was grouped with Cincinnati, Michigan and Notre Dame for a round of voting. That’s important.  

Q. You described Michigan earlier as a complete football team; what is it specifically in that cluster with the other one-loss teams, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State, that has so consistently allowed Michigan to be ranked ahead of them? 

Barta: “I think the win at Penn State has gotten the committee's attention. Michigan has also been a well-balanced team pretty much all year, so it's been a consistency for most of the year. Notre Dame started out a little bit slower. They've certainly come on. But they're also -- their last three games, they totally manhandled Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech, Navy and Virginia were their last three wins, so they haven't had the strength of schedule that they had earlier. Oklahoma State, their defense has been terrific. They have a great win against Baylor. Texas Tech couldn't do anything against Oklahoma State's defense this past weekend. Their offense shows signs at times. They do enough, Spencer Sanders and that group do enough, but they're more defensive-minded. They have the loss on the road at Iowa State. So all of that is considered, and that just gives you a sense of some of the things we talked about among those three teams.” 

Tramel: I generally defend Barta every week, and here goes again. He’s being asked to explain why Michigan is ranked ahead of Notre Dame and OSU. For all we know, Barta voted those teams in the opposite order. But he has to explain why the committee as a whole went the way it did, using snippets from the conversation. And I’ve been told that the committee room never gets into heated debate or colorful arguments. The discussions usually are detached and low-key. So Barta might not even have a good feel for why some colleagues vote the way they do. He doesn’t even know WHICH colleagues vote the way they do. 

Q. I'm curious about the top three teams. I know you mentioned on TV that you looked at Cincinnati with Alabama and Ohio State, but how close are those three? Obviously Georgia being undefeated, but where do those stand and the differences between the three as the committee sees it? 

Barta: “You know, we have conversations, and you can get a sense through conversations and people's opinions and their questions kind of how people feel about each team. Georgia is undefeated, and I just said a minute ago that there's only three undefeated teams left, and for Georgia to be 11-0 and against the schedule that they play continues to get the committee's attention. The defense that they play, they have the best defense in the country, Jordan Davis and company, and their offense is still a top 10 type offense. They do have wins against Clemson and Arkansas. When we voted, Georgia came out on top. There was more conversation between Ohio State and Alabama. I went through that a little bit earlier in terms of why the committee ended up putting Ohio State ahead of Alabama this week, but both are considered to be great teams, not just good teams. All three of those teams received great conversation. Ohio State offensively is considered to be the strongest in that group, but Ohio State's defense is better. Georgia may be the best defense there, and Alabama both offensively and defensively. It's just exciting to see those teams continue to get better every week. But when it came down to the vote, Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama in that order this week. 

Tramel: Here’s what he meant. Georgia is obvious. Ohio State beat Michigan State 49-0 and Alabama beat Arkansas 42-35. What was the committee supposed to do? 

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Q. With Oklahoma, what did the Iowa State win do for them, really their best win of the year? And with Oklahoma State from the way you're talking, it sounds like they've elevated themselves in terms of the pod that they're being analyzed with. If you could talk about their situation a little bit more. 

Barta: “Oklahoma only has one loss. You've heard us talk previously about the strength of their schedule not being as difficult as some of the others. The Iowa State win was a heck of a football game, first of all. The fact that they were able to hang on and win that game, the committee certainly considered that. Their only loss is to a really good Baylor team. There's never a discussion about separation; right now it's 7, 8, 9 and 10. When this week occurs, obviously Oklahoma State and Oklahoma play each other, and that will be a piece of information that will be important to add to the conversation.” 

Tramel: Barta’s assertion that beating Iowa State 28-21 was somewhat of a positive – at least he didn’t make it a negative – is good news for OU. Win Bedlam, and the Sooners could be seen as having produced two good wins in a row. 

Q. Has Oklahoma State elevated themselves where they're getting looked at as part of that group with the teams ahead of them, as well? 

Barta: “To say yes because they're ranked No. 7, and their defense continues to be strong, they certainly get included in discussions with people above them, with Michigan, but you are where you're ranked. Right now they're at 7, and as I said earlier, they have a big game coming up that can add to their resume.” 

Tramel: That last part is the key. Winning Bedlam could vault OSU past Notre Dame (or even Cincinnati, I suppose, though probably not). A victory over the Sooners would give OSU two marquee wins. Notre Dame’s second-best win is over Purdue, and that won’t change this weekend, since the Fighting Irish play Stanford. I suppose you could argue that if Wisconsin beats Minnesota and OU loses Bedlam, the Badgers will be ranked ahead of the Sooners. I don’t know. But the OSU resume’ is going to trump Notre Dame’s, if the Cowboys win Bedlam. 

Q. I know everyone on the committee is going to have different preferences, but just from your perspective, Oklahoma State is a team that dominates defensively. They've put up big numbers on that side of the ball, not so much on offense as you've referenced, just doing enough to get by. Do you notice one or the other more? Does a big number offensively jump out rather than a shutout, for instance, or does that not come into play with Oklahoma State and their resume? 

Barta: “You know, last week I said the committee watches every team is a little bit different in their style, and the committee watches every team and starts to recognize their style. I know this, and I'm not saying this to be smart-aleck; if you win 23-0, if you don't let the other team score, you're going to win. Defense wins championships and all those things. The challenge is can that defense hold up against a dynamic offense, a much more dynamic offense? If they end up continuing to win by playing great defense, the committee will recognize that and rank them accordingly. I only say that their offense hasn't reached some of the levels of some of the offenses because if you're a complete team you have both sides of the ball. They've earned the right to be No. 7 because they're only giving up about 13 points a game, at least in conference play, and so they're a terrific team. We'll just have to see the rest of the way out how it plays.” 

Tramel: I tend to think each committee member puts little regard into whether a team is heavy-offense or heavy-defense. It’s only in explaining the voting does that distinction come into play. If you rank Ohio State high, praising its offense is an easy justification. If you rank OU low (in years past), questioning the defense is an easy explanation. 

Q. I wanted to ask you about the team or the school that you represent, Iowa, being ranked 16th. I know it's been discussed that you figuratively leave a hat outside, I guess literally outside the room, but who advocates for Iowa when you're not in there, and what kind of discussion has been generated about the Hawkeyes that you're aware of? 

Barta: “Well, you know, as you know, not only do I put a hat on the door, we all do figuratively and literally, but I'm not in the room when Iowa is discussed. So when I come back in, what I'm told is how the ranking turns out. In terms of advocate, there's really not an advocacy for anybody. There's 13 teams, 13 individuals having discussions, 12 when I'm not in the room for Iowa, having discussions about how they feel about each team. There is a conference representative, so each conference has people on the scene who talk to the conference on a regular basis to get the conference feedback, but there's really not an advocacy. It's people's individual opinions on how Iowa plays, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are and where they think they belong, in this case 16th.” 

Tramel: Barta’s description checks with my committee sources over the years. Advocacy is not widespread in the committee room. 

Q. What kind of feedback have you received about Iowa being 16th and not, say, 12th where Michigan State is? 

Barta: “I think one of the things the committee talks about with Iowa and one of the things I certainly recognize watching them every week is defense is certainly a strength, and some wins over Iowa State and Penn State and Minnesota and no bad losses and having won three in a row. But beyond that, I don't have a lot of conversations one-on-one about why Iowa is here or why Iowa is not there.” 

Tramel: And it only matters because the top 10-12 teams will be eligible for a major bowl. 

Tramel:Bob Bowlsby would enjoy an OSU-Baylor Big 12 football championship game

Mailbag: David Boren & the SEC 

My Friday column on former OU president David Boren and the Sooners’ decision to join the Southeastern Conference drew many responses. Like this. 

Ron: “Excellent piece on David Boren.  Absolutely spot-on and should be very thought-provoking for all  Oklahomans. Boren is among my most admired people, and he will be increasingly appreciated for all he did for OU and for Oklahoma. If I were to add one point to your article it would be that tomorrow OU and OSU are playing one of the biggest games of the year while Texas sits near the cellar and has been irrelevant for a decade. I get the money issue. We chose the nasty girl because her daddy is rich, instead of the perfect girl next door who made so much more of herself, with so much less. Which one tends to make the better long-term marriage? I'm an OU grad and big fan for the almost 50 years since I started there. Because of this SEC move, for the first time ever I've been finding other things to do with my Saturdays. And for the first time ever, I will not be too disappointed if OSU wins. Frankly, part of me hopes they do. I believe we often take true leadership for granted until we no longer have it. My home state of Oklahoma is the poorer for that.” 

Tramel: It's going to take a long while to figure out if OU made the right decision. Other people have left conferences for more money. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But Ron has a point. OU is treading into deep waters, not so much competitively, but culturally. We’ll see how the Sooners fare. 

Venue Ventures: Guthrie’s Cottonwood Creek 

Bedlam football commences Saturday night in Stillwater, and since 1904, the football rivalry has been played in either Norman, Stillwater or Oklahoma City. The latter hosted OSU-OU football seven times – 1915-19 and 1943-44. 

But the first OU-OSU football game was played in Guthrie, and it remains one of the wildest Bedlam scenes yet. 

Former Oklahoman writer John Rohde wrote this in 1998: 

“The game was played at Island Park along the banks of Cottonwood Creek in Guthrie. 

Every man on the OU team scored a touchdown that day, including left halfback Ed Cook, who swam -- yes, swam -- 10 yards for the Sooners' first score. 

“On the fourth play of the game, with (Oklahoma) A&M inches from its own goal line, O.P. Callahan punted. The ball went straight up and the wind drifted the ball backward toward Cottonwood Creek. 

“Under rules at that time, either team could recover a loose ball off the playing field. 

The ball was knocked into the water, where five players dove in after it. 

“A&M's R.C. Baird was the first to grab the ball, but he mishandled it and sent the ball further downstream. 

“Cook secured the football after a 10-yard swim, carried it to the bank and touched it down to the ground for arguably the oddest touchdown in football history. 

“The series opener should have been an omen for the Cowboys, who have been swimming upstream trying to catch the Sooners ever since.” 

Island Park still exists in Guthrie, though now it’s known as Mineral Wells Park. The park is a contributing site to the Guthrie Historic District. The Park was established in 1890, on the west side of Highway 77, just south of downtown Guthrie. The park hosted the celebration when Oklahoma was made the 46th state, in November 1907. 

From waymaking.com: “The park is large, and has many old trees. A narrow roadway winds through the park, passing a large pavilion, playground, tennis courts, basketball courts, and a large fishing pond. Near the tennis courts is a gazebo that was popular during the 1920s when citizens would line up with containers to obtain some of the mineral water which was so popular. This is a popular area which hosts many community events throughout the year. It has been a focal point of Guthrie activities for more than 120 years.” 

And 117 years ago, it hosted the wildest play in Bedlam history. 

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.