*OK so we'll start with me getting a bit more in depth on yesterday's big forecast - Reggie Grimes to Oklahoma.
So for some time I'd been hearing a lot of confidence around Norman but when I'd speak to folks around Tennessee and familiar with the situation in Columbia, S.C., I heard little to make me think that anything had truly changed.
But still the confidence in people I speak with grew.
So, on Monday, I reached out to someone well connected with the Gamecocks situation and was told 'I still believe it's South Carolina' and it was presented so matter of factly I thought that the team who has long been in the lead has kept it.
Then, out of the blue, I got a heads up yesterday that things were looking different in the Palmetto State.
"I think it's Oklahoma," a source said.
Now, I know some of you will say 'well, you should have listened' but it's always risky when you take one source over everyone else - regardless of how strong you think that source might be.
But now there is a growing consensus and I am undoubted that you all appreciate that you heard it first, hahaha.
**Now, speaking of other defensive line targets how about another one that is trending in the right direction for Oklahoma and that is, arguably, their top target on defense - Alfred Collins of Bastrop (Texas) Cedar Creek.
Stop me if you heard (or just read) this before but there has been some growing buzz around Norman that the Sooners have made a real move for Collins but, again, there was always talk that a more long-standing favorite, Texas, was going to be tough to overcome.
In fact I'd been told that quite some time ago Collins had silently committed to the Longhorns but to their credit, Oklahoma never gave up on him. A big part of that was Lincoln Riley and Calvin Thibodeaux making a trip to catch his game on Nov. 1.
Well earlier this week it came up that another team that was there that night, Baylor, was making a run at Collins.
So is it now Baylor and Texas?
Nope, it seems the Longhorns have fallen back to third and the Sooners and Bears are doing battle here.
Oklahoma has long been more involved in the chase for his signature but Collins has made repeated trips to Waco the past few weeks, to watch the Bears take on Oklahoma and Texas, and will take an official visit to Baylor on Dec. 13.
Still though, check my latest forecast (again), and see that right now I'm betting on the Sooners and their long-standing relationship with he and his family.
"I think Oklahoma leads," according to two different sources I've spoken to in the last 24 hours.
***I know most of you want to talk about the eyes and I get it, but they'll come in due time with one possibly running out all the way until Dec. 18 - the start of early signing period. The other I expect to be done before that though I've heard no definitive timeline.
But the storyline that continues to progress is the growing possibility that Oklahoma and Edgerrin Cooper will not end up together come signing day.
I'm told that Oklahoma will likely land either Cooper or Shane Whitter and that it's unlikely the two could be part of the same class. If the Sooners did as strong a job as I believe they did then that could make Cooper a tough situation to see working out in Norman.
Now, could numbers change, opinions differ, sure. But as of right now it feels like it's Whitter or Cooper, not 'and'.
So for some time I'd been hearing a lot of confidence around Norman but when I'd speak to folks around Tennessee and familiar with the situation in Columbia, S.C., I heard little to make me think that anything had truly changed.
But still the confidence in people I speak with grew.
So, on Monday, I reached out to someone well connected with the Gamecocks situation and was told 'I still believe it's South Carolina' and it was presented so matter of factly I thought that the team who has long been in the lead has kept it.
Then, out of the blue, I got a heads up yesterday that things were looking different in the Palmetto State.
"I think it's Oklahoma," a source said.
Now, I know some of you will say 'well, you should have listened' but it's always risky when you take one source over everyone else - regardless of how strong you think that source might be.
But now there is a growing consensus and I am undoubted that you all appreciate that you heard it first, hahaha.
**Now, speaking of other defensive line targets how about another one that is trending in the right direction for Oklahoma and that is, arguably, their top target on defense - Alfred Collins of Bastrop (Texas) Cedar Creek.
Stop me if you heard (or just read) this before but there has been some growing buzz around Norman that the Sooners have made a real move for Collins but, again, there was always talk that a more long-standing favorite, Texas, was going to be tough to overcome.
In fact I'd been told that quite some time ago Collins had silently committed to the Longhorns but to their credit, Oklahoma never gave up on him. A big part of that was Lincoln Riley and Calvin Thibodeaux making a trip to catch his game on Nov. 1.
Well earlier this week it came up that another team that was there that night, Baylor, was making a run at Collins.
So is it now Baylor and Texas?
Nope, it seems the Longhorns have fallen back to third and the Sooners and Bears are doing battle here.
Oklahoma has long been more involved in the chase for his signature but Collins has made repeated trips to Waco the past few weeks, to watch the Bears take on Oklahoma and Texas, and will take an official visit to Baylor on Dec. 13.
Still though, check my latest forecast (again), and see that right now I'm betting on the Sooners and their long-standing relationship with he and his family.
"I think Oklahoma leads," according to two different sources I've spoken to in the last 24 hours.
***I know most of you want to talk about the eyes and I get it, but they'll come in due time with one possibly running out all the way until Dec. 18 - the start of early signing period. The other I expect to be done before that though I've heard no definitive timeline.
But the storyline that continues to progress is the growing possibility that Oklahoma and Edgerrin Cooper will not end up together come signing day.
I'm told that Oklahoma will likely land either Cooper or Shane Whitter and that it's unlikely the two could be part of the same class. If the Sooners did as strong a job as I believe they did then that could make Cooper a tough situation to see working out in Norman.
Now, could numbers change, opinions differ, sure. But as of right now it feels like it's Whitter or Cooper, not 'and'.
