It's no surprise that KU is the preseason pick with OU at number two. Hopefully OSU can better the expectations for them.

Big 12 men's basketball: OU second, OSU seventh in coaches preseason poll; Kansas picked first - Tulsa World: College Basketball (http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/collegebasketball/big-men-s-basketball-ou-second-osu-seventh-in-coaches/article_dcb81e97-0338-5fb7-bd2c-c23e03647346.html)

The national preseason coaches poll has 3 Big 12 teams in the top 10 with OU at number 8.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2579471-usa-today-college-basketball-coaches-poll-2015-preseason-rankings-released

Going to be fun watching KU, OU, and ISU battle for the title and I hope they can all stay healthy... Baylor might put up a fight and OSU could surprise some people... Not expecting much from the rest of the conference but it is the Big XII so every team better come to play every night.... Especially on the road!

ROCK CHALK!!!

#MoreRingsThanFingers

Going to be fun watching KU, OU, and ISU battle for the title and I hope they can all stay healthy... Baylor might put up a fight and OSU could surprise some people... Not expecting much from the rest of the conference but it is the Big XII so every team better come to play every night.... Especially on the road!

ROCK CHALK!!!

#MoreRingsThanFingers

Have you seen the KU promo video with Bill Self versus "short shorts" Bill Self? Pretty funny. It was shown on the sports on KOCO the other night. Good stuff.

Have you seen the KU promo video with Bill Self versus "short shorts" Bill Self?

Yep... I've been to the Little Apple four times... And I get dunked over again! ... LOL

It was tight, but a win in Memphis has to be considered a positive anyway.

No. 8 Oklahoma beats Memphis 84-78 (http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400816810)

KU lost tonight to Michigan State.

Seems like the Jayhawks struggle in the Classic every year.... All the 3's they hit against Northern Colorado was a bad lesson for them... Perry Ellis needs to be getting more touches and when they think he's touched the ball enough. They need to feed it to him some more.... Frustrating loss considering they lead almost the entire game but it's just a bump in the road for them.

Sooners scared me a little bit against a very young Memphis team but showed their maturity and ability to handle the pressure in the end when it counted the most..... Josh Pastner could have a beast growing there as those freshmen mature.

It was nice to see the Sooners show the good folks of Memphis that one team from Oklahoma can handle business there.

There have been no real surprises so far and the Big 12 is looking strong at the top, with three teams in the top seven in the latest poll.

AP Top 25 Rankings: Kentucky at No. 1, North Carolina drops - College Basketball - SI.com (http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/11/23/ap-top-25-poll-rankings-kentucky-north-carolina-maryland)

It was nice to see the Sooners show the good folks of Memphis that one team from Oklahoma can handle business there.

Put it on the Wisconsin boys yesterday too! Couple of nice early season wins for Sooners!

After a blowout win today over a top 10 team, some national pundits are starting to think that OU has more than one national championship contending team.

Three observations: Oklahoma Sooners 78, Villanova Wildcats 55 - Men's College Basketball Blog- ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/109521/no-7-oklahoma-looks-like-its-for-real-after-blowout-of-no-9-villanova)

After a blowout win today over a top 10 team,

Wish I could have seen the second half... Nova had it back to 2 when I had to leave this evening.... Unless someone slips up this week... Big XII should have 3 of the Top 5 spots sewn up come next Monday.

At this point, I would say the biggest disappointment has to be OSU. Back to back home loses to Tulsa and Missouri State are just not acceptable, even if they didn't have great pre-season expectations. I just don't think that Travis Ford is the long term answer and expect that his days there are numbered.

Nice win. OU sitting at 6-0 for the first time since 2008-09 when they started 12-0 with Blake Griffin.

OU has two non-conference games in Norman the next two Saturdays (ORU and Creighton) and then goes back to Hawaii (lucky them) at the end of the month for the Diamond Head Classic before starting the Big 12 conference season. The first few weeks are brutal: Iowa State on the 2nd in Norman followed by Big Monday at KU, Kansas St in Norman on the 9th and also at OSU on the 13th and at Iowa State on the 18th. 3 games against current Top 10 teams, two on the road, the first 3 weeks of January..

The remaining non-conference schedule is not too challenging but the conference schedule will certainly test them. I haven't had season ticket for many years but still follow them closely. I'll be at the Creighton game as a guest of the OU Foundation as a Quarter-Century Club member. They offer me two complimentary tickets every year to one game.

At this point, I would say the biggest disappointment has to be OSU.

Really? Between illness and injury they haven't had a lot to work with... Not sure you can lay all that on Travis Ford.... Yes, they probably should have still beat Missouri State but they aren't running on all cylinders.... Will they make a run at winning the Big XII... Definitely not but they will probably be a thorn in a few sides come conference play.


The first few weeks are brutal: Iowa State on the 2nd in Norman followed by Big Monday at KU, Kansas St in Norman on the 9th and also at OSU on the 13th and at Iowa State on the 18th. 3 games against current Top 10 teams, two on the road, the first 3 weeks of January..

Brutal may be an understatement.... Some of the cream of the Big XII could get turned to butter in the opening weeks of conference play.... Best part about it is that everyone should come into those games relatively fresh and healthy... So there will be no excuses for the losers.

At this point, I would say the biggest disappointment has to be OSU. Back to back home loses to Tulsa and Missouri State are just not acceptable, even if they didn't have great pre-season expectations. I just don't think that Travis Ford is the long term answer and expect that his days there are numbered.

I hope so. I've always though he (or his representation) must be the best negotiator. We were handing out a long term deal to him before we did it for Gundy I believe. And I think it would be safe to say that Gundy's resume looks infinitely more impressive than Ford's. And I just don't like him. The kind of kids he recruits are generally speaking not who I would want representing the university. OSU has been a disappointment since his appointment. Not once has he exceeded expectations (and they have been fairly low on occasion). Gundy somehow manages to do more with less, while Ford seems to be doing less with more.

At this point, I would say the biggest disappointment has to be OSU. Back to back home loses to Tulsa and Missouri State are just not acceptable, even if they didn't have great pre-season expectations. I just don't think that Travis Ford is the long term answer and expect that his days there are numbered.

Yeah, you're not saying anything that anyone disagrees with. Absolutely everyone wants him gone. Literally no one thinks that he is the long term answer, and most OSU fans have wanted him gone for 3 years now.

I hope so. I've always though he (or his representation) must be the best negotiator. We were handing out a long term deal to him before we did it for Gundy I believe. And I think it would be safe to say that Gundy's resume looks infinitely more impressive than Ford's. And I just don't like him. The kind of kids he recruits are generally speaking not who I would want representing the university. OSU has been a disappointment since his appointment. Not once has he exceeded expectations (and they have been fairly low on occasion). Gundy somehow manages to do more with less, while Ford seems to be doing less with more.

Wait, he's not a great coach but he is a wonderful recruiter.... I don't even understand where you could think he isn't. In the last four years, he's brought in three 5 star recruits.

After a blowout win today over a top 10 team, some national pundits are starting to think that OU has more than one national championship contending team.

Three observations: Oklahoma Sooners 78, Villanova Wildcats 55 - Men's College Basketball Blog- ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/109521/no-7-oklahoma-looks-like-its-for-real-after-blowout-of-no-9-villanova)

Great game and the team is deserving of respect. I do find however that the local rag that Trammel is the so called editor of should be showing this team the respect they earned and deserve. Very disheartening to go to the sports page and find nada on the front page of the local top ten team beating another top ten team.

Wait, he's not a great coach but he is a wonderful recruiter.... I don't even understand where you could think he isn't. In the last four years, he's brought in three 5 star recruits.

That may be so, which only validates my point that he does less with more. He get's five star recruits and under performs with them. Gundy makes a living off of the 3 star guys and regularly competes for conference championships and sometimes flirts with a national title.

Pistols firing summed it up well for me. It's a couple of years old, but I imagine it still includes his best recruits.


Is Cobbins good? He averages 6-6-1-1-2 for his career. Fred Jonzen averaged 10-6-1-1-0 in his time at OSU. I mean, my gosh, Andre Williams averaged 5-6-1-1-2 a game for his career. Andre was a fine bit player but he wasn’t exactly Greg Monroe down low. Cobbins and Andre Williams are basically the exact same person. And Cobbins is probably the fifth-best player on Ford’s resume.

Smart? Fine. Markel and Nash have been awesome and Forte might be the fourth best guy Ford has recruited. But four good guys in five years?

That’s not going to get it done. And is also why Markel is playing 39 and 54-minute games.

You can point at injuries, you can point at academics, you can even point at people peeing out the windows of cars. But Ford is responsible for recruiting a deep, talented team and despite what everyone keeps telling me, he hasn’t done that yet.

Well we all know everything KP says is gospel...

Well we all know everything KP says is gospel...

So ad hominem isn't just relegated to the political talk.

I quoted it because I would have made the same argument.

That was mostly me airing my frustrations with KP, even though I read his blog every day.

My only point is, for all of Ford's coaching flaws, he has been a great recruiter. Kyle say "But Ford is responsible for recruiting a deep, talented team and despite what everyone keeps telling me, he hasn’t done that yet," which just isn't true. He did recruit a deep talented team. Then he failed to coach them when they got here.

Everything we're talking about is moot anyway, seeing as he'll probably be gone this year. And rightly so.

So there is this. Not really sure what to think of this. Overzealous ref maybe? Odd none the less. I don't believe I have ever been to a game where a fan was ejected. Coaches all the time. My high school coach my Freshman and Sophomore seasons made it a hobby. I played often but got in foul trouble one game (which never ever happened) so I was on the bench next to the coach. He turns to me and says "watch this". About 10 seconds later he was gone for the game, smiling at me as he walked by. I assume he made his point.

OSU Sports Extra - Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford ejected from son's high school game in Bixby (http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/osusportsextra/oklahoma-state-coach-travis-ford-ejected-from-son-s-high/article_75b975fd-73dc-5f30-b35f-c709cb8d8725.html)

Ford has apologized and said what he did was completely inappropriate. With that said, I heard speculation on the radio today that the official may be reprimanded by the OSSAA for his actions.

The Big 12 continues to look like the best conference this year with 5 teams in the top 25 and Texas poised to possibly move in there after a win today over number 23 North Carolina.

The Big 12 continues to look like the best conference this year with 5 teams in the top 25 and Texas poised to possibly move in there after a win today over number 23 North Carolina.

Posting mistake earlier, I meant number 3 North Carolina,

Continuing Big 12 domination in the AP poll. OU is up to number 3 with 3 Big 12 teams in the top 5 and 5 teams in the top 20.

Michigan State Spartans still No. 1 while North Carolina Tar Heels tumble to No. 11 (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14367243/michigan-state-spartans-no-1-north-carolina-tar-heels-tumble-no-11)

I'm dreading Big 12 play. We're going to get crushed by everybody.

I'm always excited for conference play to begin but with the matchups scheduled for the first few weeks of this conference season... I'M FREAKING AMPED FOR IT TO GET STARTED!

And KU plays ISU as their last game of conference play.... That could very well be a game for all the marbles in the BIg XII depending on who stumbles on the road this year.

I think Cowboys will be better than most of you are giving them credit to be right now. UT will definitely have a lot of confidence after that win at home against UNC and my Jayhawks have proven you can even go into a lowly arena like TCU and lose a few years ago.... So no one is safe on the road again in the Big XII even at places like Lubbock or Phog Allen West (Manhattan).

I've watched the Cowboys play every single game this year, and they will not be good. I will not be surprised if they are 8th or 9th in the Big 12 this year.

I've watched the Cowboys play every single game this year, and they will not be good. I will not be surprised if they are 8th or 9th in the Big 12 this year.

I'm going to put them at 6 to 7.... They won't hang with the top 5 teams in the Big XII... The bottom 5 really is a crap shoot even though I have total faith in Weber to continue destroying the Wildcats program.

I'm dreading Big 12 play. We're going to get crushed by everybody.

Who is "we"?

Who is "we"?

His we is OSU.

^^^^ Gotta be OSU.

Yeah, sorry it's OSU.

The Big 12 took a definite hit today with Iowa State losing to Northern Iowa ( I had a feeling they had been overrated anyway ) and Baylor getting blown out by Texas A & M. I went to the OU game today and they got pushed by a Creighton team that they lost to last year. I never really felt like OU was in danger of losing but they played quite sloppy at times. They are a veteran team though and did what they needed to get a comfortable win. OSU got a "respectable" loss to a good Florida team.

The Big 12 took a definite hit today with Iowa State losing to Northern Iowa ( I had a feeling they had been overrated anyway )

Overrated? You realize they lost a starter, for the season, that was averaging 30+ minutes and 12 pts a game?

Overrated? You realize they lost a starter, for the season, that was averaging 30+ minutes and 12 pts a game?

That does not change my opinion. OU could face the same Northern Iowa team that beat ISU in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. Depending on what happens there, I could adjust my thinking.

That does not change my opinion. OU could face the same Northern Iowa team that beat ISU in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. Depending on what happens there, I could adjust my thinking.


Well personally I always "think" they are overrated just because I have two friends that are ISU grads and since Misery left the conference ISU has been my Jayhawks biggest rival... So we talk a lot of trash to each other.... But you can't just ignore the fact they lost a 30+ minute and 12 points a game average starter coming off of finals week and say they were overrated. Maybe they were overrated going into that NIU game taking into considertation that had lost a starter but I can't agree they were overrated prior to that..... Do you think Duke and Kentucky are overrated as well?

Well personally I always "think" they are overrated just because I have two friends that are ISU grads and since Misery left the conference ISU has been my Jayhawks biggest rival... So we talk a lot of trash to each other.... But you can't just ignore the fact they lost a 30+ minute and 12 points a game average starter coming off of finals week and say they were overrated. Maybe they were overrated going into that NIU game taking into considertation that had lost a starter but I can't agree they were overrated prior to that..... Do you think Duke and Kentucky are overrated as well?

Honestly I haven't paid much attention to Duke or Kentucky this year so I don't have an opinion about them.

Instead of facing the Northern Iowa team that had beaten Iowa State, OU played the Hawaii team tonight that defeated Northern Iowa by 16 points. Hawaii had only lost one game to Texas Tech. OU survived in a very tough game by 3 points and will play Harvard next in the tournament finals to try to remain undefeated.

Ugly, ugly win by OU tonight...

Ugly, ugly win by OU tonight...

I'm not really defending them, but a road trip to Hawaii to play 3 straight games while enduring all of the distractions of the islands can take a toll on most teams.

If Michigan State can almost lose to Oakland, I'll let OU pass. It was pretty much a road game.

Ugly, ugly win by OU tonight...

It was ugly at times, but there were some spurts in the first half where both teams were knocking down really tough shots. OU definitely struggled down the stretch. Good teams find ways to grind out games like this.

Lon Kruger's emphasis on defense means a lot of OU wins are ugly.

But there are also a lot of OU wins. :)

Really difficult to try & watch both the Sooners & Thunder when the games interlock on TV. Great win for the Sooners over Hawaii to advance to the finals.

Congratulations, Sooners are 11 - 0

University of Oklahoma Sooners (Crimson & Cream) basketball team, Coach Lon Kruger & staff on winning the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii with a 83 - 71 finals win over the Harvard Crimson.

It appears that the Big 12 could be poised to have the top two teams in both major polls next week.

Iowa sends No. 1 Michigan State to first loss, never trails (http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839300)

It appears that the Big 12 could be poised to have the top two teams in both major polls next week.

Iowa sends No. 1 Michigan State to first loss, never trails (http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839300)

OU has to get past Iowa State first. Huge game in Norman on Saturday.

Speaking of, looks like the OU-Iowa State game is sold out. Can't remember a game selling out at the LNC when school was still on break.

Speaking of, looks like the OU-Iowa State game is sold out. Can't remember a game selling out at the LNC when school was still on break.

I'll believe it when I see the stands full. Fan support of Ou's top notch basketball program has been pretty pathetic.

I'll believe it when I see the stands full. Fan support of Ou's top notch basketball program has been pretty pathetic.

Fan support of OSU's bottom notch basketball program has been pretty pathetic.

With Mike Holder as AD it will stay that way.

OU has to get past Iowa State first. Huge game in Norman on Saturday.

Check on that and KU beat Baylor today. Everything seems to be set for a huge 1 vs 2 showdown in Lawrence.

I'll believe it when I see the stands full. Fan support of Ou's top notch basketball program has been pretty pathetic.

Was very full tonight.

Great win for the Sooners... They are the real deal this year.

OU vs Kansas is a gigantic game. Great win for the team tonight.

I was at the game sitting midway up in the lower bowl. When OU took the lead the crowd noise was the loudest I have heard since the Tubbs era. The LNC was rocking.

I was at the game sitting midway up in the lower bowl. When OU took the lead the crowd noise was the loudest I have heard since the Tubbs era. The LNC was rocking.

As someone who was there for all of the Tubbs era, I can attest that the LNC can be awesome in those kind of games.