The new yr is commonly considered a recent begin.
But in sports activities, it doesn’t work that method.
The altering of the calendar is extra continuation than recent begin within the sports activities world. Some sport seasons really bridge the change ― the 2022-23 season, for instance ― however actually, no matter that, the storylines carry over most.
We don’t simply pack away what occurred in 2022 as we head into 2023.Â
Not that that’s a nasty factor.
Frankly, issues that occurred in 2022 give us a lot to look ahead to in 2023.
For starters, we could discover out when OU and Texas will head to the SEC. All indicators level to the faculties not leaving the Big 12 in 2023, however within the new yr, we could lastly be taught if they’ll pay tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in buyouts and depart in 2024 or if they’ll keep all through the contract and keep till 2025.
More:New yr’s resolutions for sports activities sorts in Oklahoma? We’ve acquired just a few concepts to ring in 2023
Either method, that shall be big news.
So will the discharge of the Big 12 football schedule. That’s, in fact, as a result of the league is including 4 new colleges in 2023. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF shall be a part of the league, and seeing who performs the place when shall be fascinating.
Who may have to go to UCF within the September warmth?
Who may have to go to BYU within the November chilly?
Just having the brand new colleges within the league shall be attention-grabbing, too. There’ll be new coaches, new athletes, new locales, new traditions. We’ll begin to determine what the Houston struggle tune seems like and the place to go for lunch when in Orlando.Â
I’m additionally trying ahead to seeing if OU and OSU can get again within the enterprise of contending for convention supremacy. Seeing, too, who would be the Sooners and Cowboys on the entrance and heart. Marvin Mims? Jovantae Barnes? Danny Stutsman? Ollie Gordon? Bryson Green? Justin Wright?Â
We anticipate possible Dillon Gabriel and Garret Rangel to return because the quarterbacks of their respective squads, however tremendous recruit Jackson Arnold is coming to Norman and a yet-to-be-determined portal quarterback is probably going coming to Stillwater. That will make issues attention-grabbing.
Also attention-grabbing: will OU softball and girls’s gymnastics win extra nationwide championships? Will OSU softball make the Women’s College World Series championship sequence and provides us a Bedlam for the ages? Will OU baseball construct off its Men’s College World Series look? Will OU ladies’s basketball make it additional within the NCAA Tournament? Will OU and OSU males’s basketball really make the match? Why not add within the OSU ladies, too?Â
There shall be all kinds of intriguing particular person storylines in 2023, too.
OU sharpshooter Taylor Robertson has an opportunity to break the NCAA document for profession 3-pointers. OU slugger Tiare Jennings ought to push her method into the highest three in this system’s profession homer information, becoming a member of Jocelyn Alo and Lauren Chamberlain. Our state could have the 2 greatest pitchers in all of school softball with Jordy Bahl at OU and Kelly Maxwell at OSU.
More:Looking again on Jocelyn Alo’s NCAA HR document and an incredible 2022 in Oklahoma sports activities
But the athlete that’s most value keeping track of: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder guard has grow to be a shoo-in for the All-Star Game, however he may make a run on the NBA scoring title. He entered the ultimate week of December in third at 31.6 factors per recreation, behind solely Joel Embiid (33.1) and Luka Doncic (32.8).Â
And whereas being an All-Star appears a foregone conclusion for SGA, it could nonetheless be cool to see the primary member of the rebuilding Thunder earn that honor.
In different professional sports activities news, Oklahoma City’s skilled softball staff, the Spark, performs its inaugural season in 2023. Alo is already on the roster. Ditto for Oklahoma-born and former OSU outfielder Chelsea Alexander.
The Spark needs to be enjoyable.
There’s different enjoyable stuff to look ahead in 2023 on the highschool sports activities scene. Bixby football will play for its sixth consecutive state title, and Tuttle wrestling will go for its 14th consecutive one. Carl Albert tailback Xavier Robinson will attempt to completely rewrite the storied program’s document books whereas Del City massive man Brandon Garrison tries to grow to be a McDonald’s All-American.
But if you would like some actually enjoyable stuff, try the ladies basketball scene. Oklahoma has a few of the greatest gamers within the nation. Edmond North’s Laci Steele within the 2023 class. Putnam West’s Taliyah Parker and Caya Smith within the 2024 class. And the 2025 class? It’s severely stacked.
Keeley Parks from Norman, Keziah Lofton from Bethany, Janiyah Williams from Edmond Memorial, Marcayla Johnson from Tulsa Booker T. Washington and Sania Richardson from Ada are among the many prime 25 gamers within the nation.
You’re going to need to get out and see these women play.
There’s a lot to look ahead to within the new yr. People oftentimes hope for higher days in a brand new yr, however the place the sports activities scene in Oklahoma is worried, we don’t have to cross our fingers for such issues.Â
We know 2023 goes to be good.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni will be reached at 405-475-4125 or [email protected]. Like her at fb.com/JenniCarlsonOK, comply with her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and assist her work and that of different Oklahoman journalists by buying a digital subscription at this time.
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