Trending basketball teams:
⇑ Oklahoma City women – 15 straight wins
⇑ Oklahoma Wesleyan women – 13 straight wins
⇑ Tulsa men – 11 straight wins
⇑ Rogers State men – six straight wins
⇑ Southwestern Christian women – five straight wins
⇓ UCO women – five straight losses
⇓ USAO women – five straight losses
⇓ Oklahoma Wesleyan men – seven straight losses
⇓ St. Gregory’s women – seven straight losses
⇓ Oklahoma Panhandle men – seven straight losses
⇓ Oklahoma Panhandle women – 11 straight losses
• There is now a five-way tie at the top of the Heartland Conference standings in men’s basketball, due in large part to the play of the Rogers State Hillcats. RSU dispatched the two top teams in three days to move to 8-4 in league play, along with the teams they beat – No. 23 St. Edward’s, 92-82, and Texas-Permian Basin, 91-71 – as well as Lubbock Christian and St. Mary’s.
Rogers State has put together a six-game winning streak and has won seven of its last eight games, with only a double overtime loss to St. Mary’s in that stretch. The Hillcats travel to San Antonio to face St. Mary’s on Thursday in a game that could play a big part in determining the regular season league champion. Ineligible for the postseason in the transition year and with only eight games remaining on the schedule, RSU is playing right now like a team on a mission.
• The Sooners defeated the Cowboys, 64-56, on Saturday to sweep the men’s basketball Bedlam season series. Buddy Hield had a big second half with 12 of his 15 points coming then. Jordan Woodard has 17 points in the game. Ryan Sapngler had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. And with all that, the loss is still as much, if not more, what the Cowboys stopped doing than what the Sooners did.
OSU was aggressive in the opening of the game and that went away as the game went on. But even more, were the little things. Things like:
– Missed free throws in the closing minutes of the first half with the opportunity to put things away.
– Bad passes. No, I mean bad passes. Jumping in the air and realizing that coming down without shooting means a traveling violation, so ‘getting rid of the ball and calling it a pass’ passes.
– Lack of the same aggressive play for 40 minutes. The feel of the game changed when the Sooner took the lead in the second half.
It will come across as an opportunity lost for the Cowboys, and could have an big impact on what tournament they will play in following the Big 12 tournament.
And speaking of opportunities lost…
• I am an unashamed Seahawks fan – have been for nearly 30 years. And I’m not sure how I will deal with that call not to run the ball with Lynch, or Wilson, or me for that matter, in the closing seconds. To review, as if you need it, Seattle had the ball on second down and goal at the 1-yard-line with less than a minute left in the Super Bowl, trailing by four points. The SUPER BOWL!
Yes, I heard Pete Carroll’s explanation about what they had in mind to run out time and how it was all a part of the way the team runs out time to not give Brady any time at all to get the ball back. But this was not a time to do what you always do. It was a time to make a decision to win, period. And that without cheating. You can get cute and run a fake field goal and pass for a touchdown when your team is down 16 points in the third quarter. Don’t get cute when your team has 20 seconds left to win the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl!
Which, by the way, am I going to be punished for giving a description or account of an NFL game without the express written consent of the National Football League? Will I be sued for saying,”Super Bowl,” out loud? I really hope not, but if it does happen, it still won’t feel as bad as the nauseated feeling in my stomach I’ve had knowing the team I’ve cheered for all these years lost the Super Bowl that was in their hands in the final seconds because of what might go down as the most inane play call in history. Additionally, no one can blame Josh Heupel for that.