Daily Bullets (July 18): Most Viewed of the Week, Pokes Picked No. 2 in the Big 12

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Three Thoughts

• The Big 12 preseason poll is in and they have the Pokes finishing second ahead of the Longhorns – this is big in the eyes of the media. You have a returning Sam Ehlinger in Texas but more folks are prone to believe in an infantry led by Chuba Hubbard, Spencer Sanders-to-Tylan, and an Oklahoma State defense to overcome that. Even with Oklahoma State playing in Austin this year!

?: A BIG day for #Big12FB
Your very first look ? at the 2020 Preseason Poll

➡️ https://t.co/6Jpo0qxdlv pic.twitter.com/32jZto1sB3

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 17, 2020

• If you’re keeping track at home – OSU is stacked at the skill positions this year. Let’s look at what the pre-season awards tell us:

Spencer Sanders made the watchlist for the Davey O’Brien, Chuba Hubbard made the watchlist for the Doak Walker award, Tylan Wallace made the watchlist for the Biletnikoff, and Jelani Woods made the watchlist for the John Mackey award for the best tight end.

Seems like there’s some offensive talent there.

• More of a CFB issue at-large here but the biggest issue with a spring season is this:

Meanwhile, many SEC leaders are vehemently against a spring season, describing it as a “last resort” and a “fallback measure” that poses a range of issues, the biggest of which is the impact of a spring season on the 2021 fall season. Administrators fear turning a one-year problem into a two-year problem, they say. “It’s not going to work,” says one, flatly.  [SI]

I think a spring season stands to harm the bluebloods most as well – they’re the ones with predominantly NFL-bound rosters and that doesn’t bode well with a spring season.

Two Quotes

• The SEC commissioner sets out the timeline – and I see the Big 12 and ultimately OSU’s football season – following it as well.

“It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement, “and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis.

“We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us.” [NewsOK]

Jenni Carlson goes on to say the onus is on us – if we all mask up, lay low, there’s a greater possibility of a college football season happening.

• OSU has two really impressive safeties on defense right now – between Tre Sterling and Kolby Harvell-Peel, I think it’s the best pair they’ve had since Markelle Martin and Johnny Thomas:

Fewest yards per catch allowed in coverage among returning DBs:

1. Nick Pickett, Oregon – 6.5
2. Tariq Carpenter, GA Tech – 6.9
3. Yusuf Corker, Kentucky – 7.7
3. Tre Sterling, Oklahoma St – 7.7 pic.twitter.com/BYqfl12LXw

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 16, 2020

Highest-graded returning Power 5 DBs at free safety in 2019:

1. Brady Breeze – 89.8
2. Hamsah Nasirildeen – 82.1
3. Nasir Green – 81.9
4. Kolby-Harvell-Peel – 81.2
5. Aashari Crosswell – 79.8 pic.twitter.com/Qa97POOYWe

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 17, 2020

One Question

• Would you rather have a non-coference-less fall season or a full season in the spring?

Most Viewed of the Week

• No. 1: What Boone Learned from Sharing the Gundy shirt photo

• No. 2: Four-star offensive tackle decommits from OSU

• No. 3: Underwood didn’t know who Cade Cunningham was when Boynton offered him

• No. 4: OSU lost another football commit this week

• No. 5: the story of how Gundy came to own to the infamous OAN shirt

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Non-OSU Bullets

• Really enjoying NBA talk where it’s actually discussing basketball – this one about new lineups was great
• An interesting dive into the concept of “intelligence”