Daily Bullets (January 11)

Hoops News

Travis Ford on Forte being out: “You spent three weeks of practice in the preseason, defining roles and forming identities with the team. And a lot of that had to do with Phil Forte, the most experienced player on the team. And there wasn’t really a close second. So we went through a phase where had to, not exactly start over, but redefine some roles, ask some guys to do a little bit more, reform our identity.” [NewsOK]

Yikes. With Saturday’s loss to No. 17 West Virginia, OSU dropped to 20-50 against AP Top 25 steams under Ford. [NewsOK]

OSU-WVU notebook here. I tried to have some fun with it. [PFB]

Ford on the WVU loss: “We obviously have been disappointed in our rebounds last game. We talked a lot about it, did drills and did a lot of other stuff. Sometimes it just boils down to desire. Sometimes it just boils down to toughness.” Sometimes it boils down to talent. [AP]

The new CBB rules have improved scoring and pace, but there is still one major issue (and it’s not what you’re thinking). [CBS]

Football News

It sort of feels like Emmanuel Ogbah isn’t going to go as high as we all think, doesn’t it? [NewsOK]

By the way, what was Josh Stewart doing? [NewsOK]

Mike Gundy is unsurprisingly not pleased with the new Big 12 scheduling rules. [Go Pokes]

This is fun — which players were the toughest Clemson and Alabama’s players have faced? [Yahoo]

Why does college football seem intent on doing dumb stuff? [NewsOK]

So this is something. (Bob) Bowlsby said the conference’s 2016 schedule was created with flexibility to play a championship game if the NCAA vote goes the Big 12’s way, though it’s also possible a Big 12 Championship Game might not return until 2017. [CBS]

Robert Allen breaks down the linebackers. I’m excited about seeing Justin Phillips out there again. [Go Pokes]

This is great.

. @pistolsguy fixed. pic.twitter.com/PLSscRHVjL

— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) January 10, 2016

Recruiting News

Georgia got the TE we’ve been chasing for a while. No surprise. [247]

Interesting stuff here. Should OSU start looking somewhere other than Texas for top recruits? [CRFF]

Ty Thomas commits to Oklahoma State. He talks here about why he chose Stillwater. [PFB]

I’m in on this guy. Madre Harper enrolls early at Oklahoma State. Good story by Mark Cooper. [Tulsa World]

More PFB

Mike Gundy calls J.W. a “hero at OSU.” [PFB]

Mike Gundy says OSU had a great 2015. [PFB]

This is great … OSU is trying to find a kickoff man through tryouts. [PFB]

Other Stuff I’m Reading

Bill Gates, the billionaire book critic. [NYT]

How the daily fantasy sports industry turns fans into suckers. One reason I don’t play fantasy. [NYT]