Bullets: Travis Ford didn’t like anything about Bedlam

Hoops

Travis Ford on Buddy H: “One of the best players in America and he showed it. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.” (NewsOK)

My thoughts and notes on OU’s big win. (PFB)

Anthony Hickey: ““It’s all about when you get knocked down, keep getting up and keep fighting. It’s a long season. We’re not going to give up. We’re going to get over this.” (NewsOK)

Buddy Hield had a Blake Bell kind of night,  going a perfect 10-for-10 from the field with 27 total points and five boards, two assists and two steals. (CRFF)

I like this story about James Dickey and Tashawn Thomas and everything but could Dickey not have gotten him to Stillwater somehow? Was he or wasn’t he blocked from transferring there? (NewsOK)

Ford: “I didn’t like anything about this game. There’s nothing that I liked about it whatsoever. We’re going to get back in the gym and get it fixed.”

He also says OSU’s offense is designed so that other people can step up when Forte is “cut off” which, as I’ve said all season, is a problem if nobody is capable of filling that void. (Scout)

Thoughts on these HBU unis? They’re too much for me. (Yahoo)

Yet there’s reality, too. And the Sooners delivered a heavy dose to a team that succeeds only as a max-effort team built around energy and toughness more than raw talent. (NewsOK)

Hilton was monumental on Saturday night, wasn’t it? (Yahoo)

Don’t think I’ve ever seen Hilton this insane. And I’ve been to a crap ton of games in this building. #Cyclones

— Chris Williams (@ChrisMWilliams) January 18, 2015

Michael Cobbins, OSU’s big man, failed to corral a single rebound, while totaling two points and four fouls. Weeeee! He’s averaging 3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in Big 12 play. (NewsOK)

Ubben has OSU No. 8 in his Big 12 power rankings. (Fox SW)

Maryland is going to win the Big 10. Maybe. (Yahoo)

Why are we (myself included) so optimistic about Travis Ford and so pessimistic about Mike Gundy? (O’Colly)

That Russell Westbrook dunk though. (Daily Thunder)

Yes, the basketball version of a FA Cup would be insanely awesome. (Deadspin)

Holy crap the OSU women haven’t won in Norman since 1998?! (O’Colly)

Here is Russell Westbrook telling Berry Tramel he doesn’t like him. I know that will make a lot of you very happy. (Big Lead)

Steph, have mercy. (FTW)

Here’s a 4.5-finger foam finger in honor of Gerald Green. (ESPN)

Football

Wow, an OU player argued that college athletes should be able to have their scholarships removed for poor performance. The NCAA disagreed. What is this world?! (CBS)

Here’s a former Youngstown State player’s take on one of OSU’s new assistants. Sounds like he’s not a big fan of withholding the truth. (NewsOK)

Ironically, Wolford might have lied about his interest in coming to OSU. (ESPN)

So many quotes here from Gundy on the hour sitdown he had with the media last week. He’s wearing cargo pants too. (Tulsa World)

Mike Gundy announced that Mason Rudolph will go into OSU’s spring practice as the No. 1 quarterback. Gundy also announced that the Cowboys will play their home games at Boone Pickens Stadium and Pistol Pete will be the university mascot. (NewsOK)

Haha, Texas hired Jay Norvell. (Yahoo)

Mason Rudolph’s dad on Mason not attending summer camps so he could focus on winning a state title: “I think having that state championship was far more meaningful than spending a week with Trent Dilfer and company.” (NewsOK)

I talked to Carson Cunningham on his podcast last week about Mike Gundy rising from the dead. (PFB)

OSU has the most underrated uniforms in the country according to Uni Watch. (Uni Watch)

Jake Trotter on OSU’s RB problem: It’s the only hole on the offense going into next year. But it’s a massive hole. Rennie Childs is a solid back, but I don’t know that he’s an every-down starter on a championship-caliber offense. (ESPN)

Here’s Kyle Boone discussing what OSU might do to solve the problem. (PFB)

Of the top 30 players in Oklahoma only one is going to Oklahoma State. (NewsOK)

The NFC Championship game in photos is pretty awesome. (Deadspin)

Hey we had a lot of players on the all-bowl team. That’s something, isn’t it? (ESPN)

What’s the over/under on jobs Lane Kiffin will have in his career? (CBS)

This is probably more true than Robert Allen meant for it to be: The Cowboys were hammered but his late “pick six” interception at Kansas State provided a jump in confidence. (Scout)

DEFLATE-GATE! (Deadspin)

Other sports

Every week I’ve been asking a trivia question in my Friday newsletter and this week’s was who are the only three Americans to finish in the top 125 of the PGA Tour money list in each of the last 14 years.

The answer: Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Charles Howell III.

OSU rolled over Pitt on Sunday in GIA. (okstate)

Here are the wrestling highlights.

More stuff I’m reading

I loved this on reading as a drug. (Kleon)

Interesting: 2014 was the hottest year on record but really, really cool (relatively) for the midwest and southern United States. (Kottke)

Here’s how those temps are measured. (Carbon Brief)

Here are the 80 people who are as rich as half of the world. (538)

In industries with drive-by customers, people you’ll never see again, customer churn is no big deal. But in businesses where the lifetime value of a customer exceeds $15,000 (I’m thinking cable, phones, travel, banking), it’s insane to blow someone off so you can save $17 in customer support isn’t it? (Godin)