Sooners Illustrated Podcast Ep. 86 | OU Football roster reset + WCWS & Baseball Regionals preview

what's going on everybody it is that time again the soon illustr podcast episode 86 on this Tuesday May 28th 2024 Josh Calloway James D Jackson Tom Green eight day dry spell since our last show which is probably about as big of a gap as we've had since we've been doing this um you can blame skip Johnson and his guys primarily for the for the reason for that I was all busy all week big to tournament and yesterday was a selection show so we bumped this show back but hopefully we're back on a pretty normal schedule moving forward obviously we'll see um but we're glad to be back we got a few things to get into a couple football topics looks like the roster set no D tackles added all the targets have committed we'll talk about that a little bit toe Walker had some interesting comments that we'll get into a little bit as well and then the Diamond Sports of course softball is on to the wcws again and baseball has got their NCAA tournament draw I have some thoughts about that as well we'll get into that in the back end of the show but gentlemen we'll start with with kind of closing the book uh again on the transfer portal so we thought we did this once already and then the lay flip and then it kind of reopen the floodgates we talked about it last week did they need to add a defensive tackle or defensive lineman they were chasing a few guys Aiden Huntington Brandon lane and then of course Chris Hardy kind of got into the mix there well all three of those guys have committed to other places Chris Hardy went to Old Miss brand Lane to Wisconsin and then um which one am I forgetting Huntington went to two LAN so all three of those guys have committed they technically could still you know find somebody else but more than likely not they didn't add a did tackle this portal cycle is over so we're going to kind of get a chance to reset this thing again how are you guys feeling they didn't add a d tackle we kind of talk about this a little bit last week they didn't really need to where you guys kind of falling you know as we get ready to shift into summer here into June where the roster kind of sits and and what they did in the post spring portal kind of all of that yeah I mean I I pretty much where I was last week where like didn't need to add somebody but they felt they could get a good fit for you know a specific role because like all three of those guys brought something different to the table you know brand was you know more of your prototypical big bodyi 300 plus pound uh tackle but coming up from the FCS um you know Aiden Huntington was you know a little bit smaller sizewise but still was the type of guy that could provide a pass rush from the interior and obviously Chris Hardy more of an edge but had experience playing for Zack Alli um so they felt they could have gotten uh you know any one of those guys to fill a specific role to kind of bolster that defensive line feel like they probably would have made a harder push um obviously they just hosted Chris Hardy uh last week for a couple days before he committed all Miss but again I think any adding any of those guys would have been a luxury at this point because you know just getting Dominic Williams answered a lot of questions for what they needed up front um because you know I think coming out of the spring they felt better about the defensive tackle spot than they did going into the spring certainly after losing Jacob Lacy um just bringing back dejon Terry the way rays and Halton had a big spring um Jaden Jackson and David Stone how impressive they were in their first Springs as freshman uh showing that they they're probably SEC ready type guys right now they probably felt that they didn't have as big of a need um and any need that they did have Dominic Williams certainly filled that yeah I think it's a fine situation for everybody I mean it's just not not too uh you know different results you know things like that for for everybody but Germaine after losing Germain low is the only reason we even saw that U was going after these other these other guys so it's like at at a point they I think they all understood they're not the priority you know the priority get for this team and I think when you look at what uh what Lane what Lane said about going where he's going to Wisconsin and things like that he was like it was a team effort they all wanted me there some of the players wanted me there coaches they really showed that they wanted me there and that's the reason he ended up there because he had that was his third commitment since he end to transfer Port all over the place but yeah so it's just like they I think they all understood that and so at the end of this it's like it's fine for everybody seems like to me yeah I'm with you guys we talked about it last week you know they didn't have to have a guy I think this is a pretty good um you know vote of confidence in probably Grayson Halton right and some of these other guys that they didn't feel the need to just we just need another one you know after we lost the they it was kind of a little bit of a reassurance of what they have and you know if the right guy comes along and they looked into these guys we talked about it last week Chris Hardy had the Zack alley connection you know they they they kind of looked at a couple options and basically came to the conclusion that you know it's okay if we don't get one of these guys and they didn't and so now you move forward with what you have um that being said the roster kind of has a stand today obviously you know we've talked about it at the end of spring and what they need to do in the portal you know we all you know was consensus on this show had to add in the trenches they did both sides one guy on both sides Dominic Williams we talked about and of course Hickman on the offensive line thoughts on the roster as it stands and what they did in the spring portal at this point as we're getting ready to shift into summer be summer workouts things like that soon just kind of a little little check in for you guys temperature check on how you feel the team kind of is stacking up as it stands right now 90 something days before the opener yeah and just real quick you mentioned you know probably a Ved confidence in Grayson Halon who's someone that we all you know thought was going to be a contributor regardless but I think it might speak a little bit more to their confidence in a guy like Devon Sears right now someone who you know had even lesser of a role last year but he came out of spring as their most improved defensive tackle he looked good yeah he looked good yeah and like any any of these guys that you would have brought in right now would have been depth pieces and not starters um even Germain L would have been a rotational guy and not a you know Topline guy with dejon Terry there um but overall roster I mean I think they feel pretty good obviously the biggest question is still how that offensive line comes together um that's going to determine the ceiling and really the floor of this team this year is like how well they can you know retool that unit and you know what that looks like um you know certainly feel good now about Branson Hickman coming in to handle the center spot that it's just a lot of questions there fi and we weu uh feel really good about him at the guard spot I I think that left guard spot is probably the biggest question because you know losing Kaden green was not easy there um and really you know you had you know a guy like Gan Hatchet coming in but didn't really do anything in the spring um Heath OA came on uh developed pretty well but you know another guy doesn't really have any experience there tackle spots at least you have guys with some experience with you know Jake Taylor and and Jacob ston and Michael in there and Spencer Brown in the mix too so you have some options there um again it's just how well can Bill Bebo get these guys to come together um and and produce up front because that's that's going to determine how well this offense looks in Seth latrell's first year with Jackson arold in there as a firsttime starter but defensively you have to feel great um we all we all expected the defense to be the strength of this team going into the season just based on everything that they brought back and I think coming out of spring they felt even better than they did you know four months ago uh when they kind of got the news of stutsman and Billy Bowman and you know D on Terry and Ethan DS all coming back and Woody Washington too so I I think clearly the defense is gonna be the strength of this team while the offense still has some things to work through and answer yeah it's the same as as we've been talking about especially since the spring game it's the offensive line and what they're going to do just how are they going to jail that's still the that's still the biggest thing for me as we talked about on defensive side the very you know they have a lot of experience there as Tom just listed off all the guys that are returning guys that probably could have have gone in the draft and things like that so it just it's really good for o the defensive side it's all going to be based on that offensive line and you know just figuring that out so that's still that's still where I am I I really like this roster overall it's just can that offensive line jail and can they do it at at a sec level type of situation for sure no I agree I mean looks like a good football team to me you know on paper obviously there's the the big questions like you guys said um I think it's still Fair even though I've been as big of a Believer as anyone in is Jackson going to be the guy you know right we saw him have really good moments in his one start and I'll see some some tough spots as well as a freshman in his first start um but if he's what we think he is and the offensive line holds up which I think bill banbo has kind of earned the grace you know or the belief right the benefit of the doubt I guess what I'm looking for um I I think they're going to be a good football team and the schedule we've talked about it before the way it kind of lines up the home games are are mostly pretty manageable H have Alabama coming in some tough road games though and so uh yeah it's going to be interesting season we have a lot of time to figure it out but we'll check in there and um yeah it feels like they did they address some needs in this post spring portal and we'll see where you go from there as we get into fall Camp here in the next couple of months Elsewhere on the football side we did have one other kind of little interesting thing we've been looking ahead looking ahead but look backward a little bit for just a minute um Ty Walker had some fun stuff to say uh he gave us some he gave us some content what a what a what a nice guy in out of nowhere yeah out of nowhere yeah um so Toby Walker obviously running back on last year's team he transferred to Wisconsin it was a pretty amicable portaling he played the ball game obviously everybody remembers after he portal didn't have to do that it was kind of a mutual thing like it you know they needed a running back and Ty Walker want to put some more tape out there and it worked out good he's at Wisconsin right now he was on his YouTube channel um and Tom wrote a story about it so I recommend go read the full story from late last week but I have a couple of quotes and we'll kind of just react to it a little bit but he said in part I'm not going to read them all because he talked about it for a while but he said I just feel like I should have been established as the guy or we should have had a one and two the whole year just go on instead of having just mixing people up just seeing who's doing what he also said I feel like at practice I did what I was supposed to do and no one was establishing the number one spot at the beginning of the season but I feel like I did my part when I got my chance he went on to say you know Gavin Sawchuk earned the job in the back half of the year and was great but he's not wrong about the front half of the Year there was no clear runningback hierarchy or plan we didn't know who was going to start it sound like they didn't really know who was going to be starting games on a week- toe basis thoughts from you guys just on this it's kind of interesting because it almost kind of reaffirms what we kind of thought and were saying during the season so to hear from an actual guy in that room is a little kind of jarring sounds like there wasn't really a whole lot of I don't know clear plan of what was going on with that position last season what was your guys reaction when you kind of heard and read these comments well I thought they were interesting and kind of uh you know Earnest comments from a player um you know kind of just like in hindsight seeing like what it felt like from his point of view and you know while I thought it were eye openening comments I don't think they were inflammatory by any means you know he you know he had very good things to say about DeMarco Murray said you know even though they you know kind of had their differences at times during the season and kind of alluded to you know kind of that mid-season suspension that he had yeah um that you know he still loves DeMarco thinks he's a great coach and you know even though they're not talking right now because they're you know different teams and stuff like that he he sees himself as you know being able to have a relationship with DeMarco after he finishes this you know his college career and you know hopefully talks to him you know weekly or you know however often beyond that but it seemed like an amicable separation you know like like you said you know Bren Venable even said he was welcome to return uh if he wanted to if he didn't find what he was looking for in the portal but yeah I mean it kind of like like you said it affirms what it reaffirms what we saw during that first half of the year um and while I agree I think tyby Walker probably deserved more opportunity early in the season um you know that running back room was just kind of a kind of a mess early in the year um you know jamonte Barnes you know had that l foot issue Gavin Sawchuk was dealing with the hamstring issue early in the season but like they just never really leaned into one guy uh per se um which you know before the year when we talked to to Marco Murray he said hey I want to have that one bcow running back if I can like I would much rather do that than by committee and they were just never able to kind of sort that out through the first half of the year um so I kind of see it from both both sides like tawe feels like he deserved more of that opportunity which based on his production he probably did like he was never a breakaway back but he was consistently getting you you know four or five yards per carry um but yeah I just thought it was really interesting comments from him and uh kind of put everything into perspective uh you know in retrospect based on what we saw last season yeah I think a lot of fans should go out and watch the video as well to see you know kind of how he said it because like like we said when you're reading it it may not be it may not come off the way that it should because it was very Earnest like like Josh said it was like Tommy Walker still has OU Memoria like just around his apartment Wisconsin like he's he's very much still an OU guy like he he said he's going to come back to a game during his during his break or his his off week and try to be out there so he still favors the the university and when when he talked about his whole life his whole detail of his football career you can kind of understand why because it seemed like Oklahoma was like a Lifeboat to his situation at the time because I mean he had retired at some point he was at a small College you know you know paying his own away and then Oklahoma came in and helped him out and so and then he did all he could on the field as as I said many times throughout the season like he should be the back he should be the guy that's going forward because as tomson there's so many injuries that that that running back room was dealing with javante dears with his foot and Gavin saruk with his hamstring they were just slow to start the season and it seemed like Toby Walker was the only guy that was producing at the level that Oklahoma fans in Oklahoma alumni expect from an Oklahoma running back like he was the guy that ran through trash as Brent Vinos has said many times he was that guy and so all this was kind of interesting to see like where he's at how you know genuine he was talking with everybody and it it seemed kind of weird that a guy like that like this is the age we're in now where college players just go on YouTube and just say their peace pretty much it's kind of different now but it was very interesting stuff so I mean just watch the video if you can because it was it was very sincere from him and he kind of showed a lot of things that maybe we were kind of speculating on here and there we kind of got a little bit confirmation with some things there so yeah and and and and just put everything into context it's not like he just went on YouTube and like started talking about his why he he was posting this for Wisconsin fans it's kind of a hey get to know me type of thing after his first spring there um talked about you know what the transition was like for him what the first spring was like for him a little bit of on his background like James touched on obviously you know he has a kid he's trying to help provide for and which is part of why he was trying to better his situation and find something a little bit more stable for him uh moving forward um but the Oklahoma stuff just came up you know over the course of what was like a 15 minute uh kind of soliloquy from him just talking about himself but I I I again I thought it was interesting like like James said he's got OU memorabilia he's got jerseys photos helmets um all all over his apartment still um I think Wisconsin's first bye is the same week as Oklahoma's SEC opener against Tennessee so perhaps he'll make the trip to Norman for that uh Wisconsin's other by week I think is the week that Oklahoma travels to Missouri so I don't know if he wants to go to a row game sounds like he really wants to see the Oklahoma fans again he spoke really highly of them so I'd I'd imagine we'll see uh some photos and videos pop up of Ty Walker and Norman sometime in you know late September yeah no I thought it was just it was just honest it was refreshing refreshingly honest and I think most ofou fans did a pretty good job of um because you know there is the quotes just by themselves El is kind of like this guy's just kind of ripping OU he's complaining about it but it's yeah like he said is it wasn't like that um and he went on to in that same thing went on to have great like Tom said great words for DeMarco Murray said he hopes to continue to have a relationship with him you know the rest of his life so but it was interesting to hear him kind of be honest about like he doesn't really feel like it was handled that well the first half of the season so you know we'll see if maybe you know I'm sure DeMarco saw it maybe if if that affects his kind of approach to coming season maybe just at the very least being a little more I don't transparent the right word but making sure that the guys within the room kind of have a good understanding because it sounded like that's what really stck out to me was him kind of paining the picture of week to week game day to game day them not really knowing like am i g to get a bunch of carries today or none that's crazy at me so we'll see you know it was it was just interesting it just interesting provide a little further context to what we kind of saw at the beginning of last season before Gavin s really took that job and ran with it this is all during a time where U was undefeated like they were seven and0 start the season so like yeah this is crazy stuff that it was like that that type of situation for that running back room and they still were being very effective overall as a team so that's that's still amazing when you look back on it 100% all right well I think that's it for the football portion we'll let Tom jump out James I will do some Diamond Sports wcws preview coming up this weekend and then uh or WS coming up this weekend we'll preview it and then uh BAS tournament as well so Tom appreciate you sir we'll see you uh here soon yep catch you later guys all right we've now moved into the Diamond Sports portion of the program James you were in Norman loves field for the Super Regional against Florida state which we talked about going in um you know they've played in the last two of the last three national championship series that was a very high profile match up coming in yep Flor state was missing one of their key pictures right and it showed uh oh you really took a to especially in the first game end up winning pretty pretty soundly a little two game sweep there they're on the wcws we'll get into that in a moment but first talk about the the Florida State Games just kind of what look out to you as Oklahoma just we it's been the theme the last few weeks right just taking care of business they seem to look like Oklahoma again these last couple of weeks and they're going into OKC playing their best you know softball of the entire year what was kind of your takeaways and Thoughts From The Weekend there yeah it's it's pretty much that Oklahoma's PE at the right time I that's just what it is right now and in Florida State we were all kind of like shocked like the situation that their pitching staff was in at the time is like man losing that one pitcher was a detriment to this staff because they didn't have a lot of you know a lot of arm production after that so like they had their starter that was still there she did she did fine in her outing but once she was out once o was able to get her out of the game it was it was pretty much down here for Florida State and everything they put together and so they there are a lot different the team that went to the finals the championship the last you know three two of the last three years I mean it was it was clear's day and Oklahoma still looked like the team that was there so I mean like run rolling them in the first game was a very clear sign that this was not going to be that type of situation and I think a lot of folks at ESPN were probably let down by that just saying that it was oh wow this is so the closer game on on on Friday helped out a little bit but U looked like they were in the driving force of that as well so mean like it's just Flor State couldn't come back from that just having that that picture and things like that I asked the coach about it as well and she was like yeah we just we we were limited we were limited it was that was the situation because I was like did you want to throw so many arms at all you like was that the key the plan coming in before your injuries was like sure no no we just we were just limited so that was the situation they had a pitcher out there that hadn't they hadn't they hadn't pitched like she only pitched like one inning throughout the season or something like that some their Sid had told us I think they'll go back and check it but it was it was crazy the situation they were in it's crazy and we talked about it going into it and it's just more of the same but Florida State If U doesn't exist Florida state is one of the dynasties of the I mean they've knocked him out in the T final series last two last three years and eliminated the supers this year I mean if you're Florida State you're just like get OU away from me like they just they're in the way every year I mean you're in the finals you're in the finals but getting them drawing them in the supers was was unfortunate and tough so took care of business they're on to the wcws again where they live um even when it got you know as LLY as it ever got during the regular season when they lost the couple of series that they did I still think we all expected them to get here um to to Oklahoma City and uh what is it Devon park now I'm not gonna I can't get used to that they open up with Duke on Thursday now they played Duke um a million years ago um back in February I think it was the second game of the year right I mean a long time ago of the year for Duke yeah it was first game of the year for Duke yeah that's a tough first game of the year 30 win for U they played a long time ago they played literally almost 60 games since then so I don't know what you can put into that from that first game but they open up with Duke now they got a little help elsewhere in the bracket because Tennessee got upset so there's no Tennessee on their half of the bracket Alabama's in their spot do have UCLA who is another team that's no stranger to OKC Oklahoma's had some battles with them so I guess some thoughts from you going into the Duke match up and just kind of kind of their draw overall going into the wcws this week which starts on uh on Thursday yeah the crazy thing with Duke like this is their first ever appearance in the Women's College World Series and they get Oklahoma who's been their eight straight times in three national championships but not to point that out so much because Duke is such a they they haven't played softball pretty much like they didn't start playing softball until 2018 and so it's a fairly young program when you look at everything that they have and they just been really successful in the stretch that they've had softball after that Oklahoma loss at the beginning of the year that we talked about they had 21 straight wins like just consecutive back toback so like this is still a really really good softball team they won the ACC they're I mean they're they could be dangerous if you don't take them seriously and so it's going to be a lot of scouting from Patty gaso seeing what this team is really good at what they you know what their unit is really good at and there's there's some things I mean just about them man they're they're really scary when you when you look at everything that they can bring because their pitcher uh is very dominant and if you if you look at back at the Women's College World Series histories there's been times where a pitcher can really just change the game for a team I mean we saw with with James Madison a couple of years ago I'm blanking on their pitcher name Alexander yeah yeah she was phenomenal for them you don't want it to be a situation like that for OU so you kind of want to put that picture away early and and I think U did a good job of that against Florida state so they shown that they can do that especially in a game one uh series of a series so this is pretty good for them in terms of we we've shown we can do this before let's do it again now early in this year when they won the game it was only a three win for U could that could that make some you know get some get some confidence to Duke like okay it was only three 0 and then we won 21 straight after that so we're actually a good team can we can we can we bounce on that so that's that's going to be the thing that's going to be the thing and and I know people have been harping on Oklahoma's loss this year when you look at the field I mean o u has the best record of them all I mean after Texas loses those those that one game against Texas A&M yeah I mean U has the best record in this field so they still I feel like the the quote unquote number one team of this because they're still the team that that needs to be beat like they're they're three national championships in a row going for a fourth it's it's insane that they're not the number one seed after winning the Big 12 tournament yeah I think they're the betting favorites and I think that's probably accurate and I would favor Oklahoma to win the national title right now not saying it's a given by any means but the fact that Texas and Oklahoma State are both on the other side is just great for them and you know the draw is Pretty good overall All Things Considered it's also a really good I will say field in the wcws this year there's not like a a Cinderella team you reference James Madison there's not a team like that in this field but that makes the teams just like that makes the games almost that that much more exciting like it's kind of like the that year in the in college basketball in the final four was just all the Blue Bloods that's how it kind of feels this year like these teams Texas OSU Florida Stanford OU obviously UCLA we mentioned Alabama other than Duke these teams live in this thing it's all The Usual Suspects so I think that's going to create some really good games and it's going to be a fun field and a fun thing to watch but I think oh you end up with a great draw here and like I said they're the betting favorites most places you look to win the national title right now they're the number two technically um I think that's probably accurate I think that right now the way it kind of shapes up for them both with the way they're playing the way their other teams are are playing and then also their draw um I think all of it's working in their favor right now and we'll see how it goes but I think you have to feel really good if you're an U fan that they can finish this thing off and go for the four P I think you have to feel confident yeah yeah for sure I think if if it wasn't Duke if you saw Arizona in this spot it would be like all the Blue Bloods of softball like of all time it's like putting Arizona there so but yeah you you talked about it it's like U is the deao Oklahoma I mean deao number one team because Texas in Oklahoma State on the other side it seems like the tougher matchups on the other side of the bracket so it it really works out well the the only thing is when you have some like a team that hasn't been there before I mean it it could it could cause some scary situations because they don't know what they don't know as Pat gasto has said plenty times they could just be playing out of their minds because what do we got to lose I mean we this is our first time here Oklahoma's the one with all the pressure so let's just go play and play as hard as we can that's that's what the scar situations are but I think it'll be it'll be fun it'll be funny the way I feel like seeing this game and what's going to happen so that that's that's going for the fourth one is is tough so nobody's ever done it so O's going to try to do it absolutely so that'll be on Thursday at 1:30 uh media day tomorrow right media day I believe Wednesday so um lots of wws coverage coming your way James has been all over it um all season but obviously especially the postseason so keep up with the the website and obviously we'll be back next Monday and um I guess we'll probably be talking about about potentially the national championship series at that point right I think so that's why the schedule works out I think they Chang the schedule from what it used to be day to day since they changed it um they put some more off days in there after 2021 was just like insane with schedule worked out that yeah we're get so like on Monday we'll have we'll have the semis starting okay okay yeah so but it should be fun like I said great field James will be out there uh always a great environment really cool event that's just right the road from us here in OKC so look forward to that coming up this week o the Day game on Thursday 130 start against Duke as far as baseball goes to kind of wrap up um I was down in arlingon for the Big 12 tournament they went in there they played pretty well they won three games got to the championship game um but they did lose the championship game to Oklahoma State um who's just the pokes that just one of those things they just had their number for whatever reason I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is I don't think there's some big Talent Gap I quite the opposite I think Oklahoma I mean had a better season they were a better team on paper I think than U this year but forever reason it's just been a hard hard time for the sters kind of get over that hump against Oklahoma State in recent years really since Josh holiday's been there but so pokes won on the big championship game on Saturday night but still a great week for Oklahoma they turn around yesterday and I was down there you nor they had a watch party the whole team all the coaches they let Media come shout out Patrick Dunn who's the Sid FY baseball does a phenomenal job he had media out there so it was great to get to be there the all the drama was in are they going to get a top eight or not because obviously if you get a top eight and you get to the Super Regionals you know that you get to be at home your path to the Cal series is all at home that's the difference of being a top eight or not right um they knew they're gonna be on that bubble but every projection had them as a top eight pretty much the last two three weeks leading up to selection Monday Sunday night it got a little wobbly a few places moved them out some places kept them in D1 baseball had Oklahoma as number eight still going into selection day the brackets come out the Sooners are number nine so they didn't get that top eight there was a bit of a you know there was like a maybe a 10-second kind of disappointment in the room being in there with the team of kind of like well that number eight popped up and it wasn't them there was a little bit of that damn you know but they moved past it pretty quick I think you know talking Skip and and some players afterward and it seemed to be kind of like you know it is what it is we're past it you know moving right by it um their draw this weekend or Roberts comes to town first who they played twice in regular season or Roberts beat U last time they played late in April I think it was April 30th about a month ago that was up in Tulsa I was actually at that game and then speaking of Duke they're coming to Norman for baseball they're the two seed and then Yukon is the three seed my main feel of the draw here people kind of been asking me what's my thoughts on just kind of the draw here could be better could be worse um there were certainly some very scary two seeds that could have been sent to Norman LSU stands out as a potential option that was projected as a possibility that's a team that was terrifying to to come to nor defending national champions and they're hot the right time that was a scary potential option some other SEC options were scary Vanderbilt was a little worrisome Duke is really good um but it could have been worse Duke is really good they're they're one of the stronger two seeds but after that you know Yukon I mean or Roberts is arguably the worst team in the field you know they were an automatic bid they're below 500 during the regular season but they won their conference TM so got the auto bid so it could be better could be worse I guess kind of where I fall on the on the draw I'm very curious to see how skip Johnson handles the pitching does he hold Bradon Davis back a day it's a gamble it's a big gamble but you could hold him back a day and Pitch him against Duke you know theoretically um but then you roll the dice of if you lose that first game you are in deep trouble it is very hard to climb out of the losers bracket in these regionals it happens but it's very hard to do so yeah we'll see I mean the the not getting the top eight was a little surprising to me I thought they did enough they won the Big 12 going away nobody in the Big 12 got a top eight because it kind of felt like if they didn't get one it would probably for Oklahoma State would probably get it because they won the tournament they had the head-to-head over OU it felt like an either or situation and then neither one of them got it and so it was a little surprising the Big 12 as a whole did not get a lot of love in this in this uh this from the selection committee TCU got left out altogether which was surprising Cincinnati got left out altogether which is a little bit surprising to me um so yeah that's kind of My overall thoughts I mean they're they're in good shape I I think the draw could have been better could have been worse the eight seed is Florida State now Florida State their Regional is kind of tough with Alabama and UCF going in there obviously this is looking ahead but obviously if Florida State doesn't win their Regional and U does U would get to host a Super Regional they'd be the seated team so you kind of worry about that when you get there sort of a thing I think their Regional draw wasn't bad um and they're playing good baseball at the right time they've won 20 their last 25 games I think it's still fair to be pretty confident going in and uh I look forward to getting out there postseason baseball hasn't been in Norman since 2010 and so I'm excited to to get out there this weekend it's gonna be fun and they open or Roberts on Friday night so it'll be it'd be really cool but uh yeah I'm excited for it I'm crazy it's crazy when you think the OKC Thunder got here in like 0708 something like that around that time like it's been that long since like man it's crazy so shout out to skip Johnson and everything he's done for this team and what they built like they they built a good program now and they're they're out there Josh is out there every day man almost seems like trying to cover that team so they're they're doing a really good job what what was your impressions of the walk-off man I remember saying that like oh my gosh that's that game that game Friday I'm glad you brought it up because yeah that game on Friday they were down six nothing yeah they were B so much in the second inning and they just this team is so good it's very similar to the 2022 team in that regard that they really the 2022 team was so good about like the opponent the score the venue the situation it never phased them they just kept plowing away and they just rode that all the way to the final Series this team is very similar in that regard and so even know when they went down six nothing you kind of felt like all right most teams you're cooked they down six nothing but they just their offense is so good and their pitching is is as good as it's been all year which is think a big part of the confidence the bullpen in particular which has been a question mark a lot of fans have said the bull they're not they're Capp with how far they can go because of the bullpen the bullpen is is is performing at the level the highest level it has all year right now um going into the postseason which is obviously what you want um and they helped them get back in that game they held Kansas at six the rest of the game they just kept chipping away chipping away chipping away and then eventually obviously Jack Nicholas Pops that two run home run to walk it off it was funny because I'm sitting there at glob light field which the Press Box a go by field is in the sky you are so high up there um and I'm sitting there and we're watching the game and I'm ready because you know they had a guy on Bas it's like a ball in the Gap they can walk it off as soon as that thing hit the bat ping I didn't even watch it land because it was I immediately like oh that's gone right to my computer because you could just tell immed like the sound of it and just the the shoot off off the bat yeah you didn't even have to watch it land I immedately went to my uh computer and started typing typing some stuff because uh it was gone but it great moment um they're really good team they're fun to watch it's been awesome season historic season in a lot of ways and uh I'm pumped for this weekend G be a lot of fun to see him play some postseason baseball in Norman the Crowds Are expect to be phenomenal they already um little little inside info they put a link up for Ticket requests on Sunday night right when the regional host thing got announced they had take the link down in like an hour because oh wow there were so many requests that they were like might able to fulfill all these like they so they had to pull that link down because people were were jumping all over so it is there's a lot of excitement about this team right now and uh they're putting in bleachers and the BMS this weekend so it's gonna be like a full bowl like type stadium in It's Gonna add a lot more seating it's gonna be nuts I'm excited for this weekend so they're playing really good baseball at the right time and I'm excited and we'll see if they can get us back to home um in a couple of weeks so good stuff I think that's it um lots of Diamond Sports coming up this week James will be in OKC I'll be in Norman um postseason stick ball all over the place in Oklahoma this weekend and we're excited for it we'll be back uh I'll be back with con later in the week on Thursday is the plan there um to do a little uh recruiting talk we didn't do show last week because it just like I said other our schedules couldn't quite L line up so we'll have two weeks of stuff to catch up on and then James to myself will be back with you next Monday to uh recap all the stuff for the Diamond Sports anything else going on in football basketball whatever else may be uh happening so I think that's it for Tom Green earlier Jamesy Jackson I'm Josh Callaway we'll see you guys next time right back here on the Sooners Illustrated podcast see you