This and that about various sports stuff.
Oral Roberts University is milking the basketball team’s run to the Sweet 16, in last spring’s NCAA Tournament, for all it’s worth. However, the risk of over promoting last season’s success, is not being able to live up to it this year.
So far, the Golden Eagles have done a good job of defending their self-promotion.
ORU recently hosted the OSU Cowboys, and the two teams battled in a close game that saw the lead change numerous times, and OSU ultimately came out ahead, 78-77, in overtime. It was an announced sellout crowd of 6,094; the first since 1997.
Three days later, cross-town rival Tulsa was at the Mabee Center. The crowd wasn’t as big, but the Golden Eagles were victorious, 87-80.
ORU is still a very powerful team and should finish near or at the top of The Summit League again this year.
TU GETS BOWL GAME
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team became bowl eligible, with a 6-6 record, by winning the last three games of the regular season. Tulsa has been invited to play Old Dominion in the 2021 Myrtle Beach Bowl, in Conway, South Carolina. The game will be played at Coastal Carolina’s Brooks Stadium, Monday, December 20, at 2:30 p.m. EST (1:30 p.m. CST).
The Monarchs also finished the regular season with a 6-6 record, and did so by winning their last five games.
This is just the second year of the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Last year’s game was won by Appalachian State over North Texas, 56-28.
This will be the 23rd bowl game in TU history and it is the 12th bowl appearance in the last 19 years for the Golden Hurricane. It will be the fourth bowl game in head coach Philip Montgomery’s seven seasons, including the 2015 Independence Bowl, 2016 Miami Beach Bowl and the 2020 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
The Myrtle Beach Bowl will mark the first time Tulsa and Old Dominion will face each other in football.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to continue our season at the Myrtle Beach Bowl against a very good Old Dominion football team,” Montgomery said in a statement released by Tulsa. “We look forward to representing our university, the city of Tulsa and the American Athletic Conference in Myrtle Beach.”
OTHER BOWL GAMES
With the OSU loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Championship, the Cowboys lost any chance of being included in the College Football Playoff. The top four teams in the rankings will play in the Playoff Semifinals; 1) Alabama, 2) Michigan, 3) Georgia, and 4) Cincinnati.
Alabama will play Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl, and Michigan will face Georgia in the Orange Bowl. Both games will be played on Dec. 31.
On Dec. 29, 8:15 p.m. CST, No. 16 Oklahoma will face No. 14 Oregon in the Alamo Bowl.
No. 9 Oklahoma State will play No. 5 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 1 at noon.
BOWL PREDICTIONS
I’m picking Tulsa to beat Old Dominion. Although, the Monarchs have won five straight, I witnessed an amazing turn around by the Golden Hurricane halfway through the season, and this is a team that plays vastly different now than they did in the beginning of the season.
Just as the schools’ initials are practically the same, so are the football stats. OU and UO match up quite well. The Sooners have allowed 25.3 points per game, while the Ducks have allowed 25.5.
Oklahoma has averaged 441 total yards of offense, and Oregon has averaged 418. In yards allowed per game, Oregon has the slight edge at 370 to 382. The Sooners have average 38.4 points per game, and the Ducks have average 31.4 points.
My pick; OU in a close one.
There is a reason Notre Dame is ranked No. 5, and OSU had a rough time with Baylor. I’m going with the Fighting Irish for the win.