In this week’s edition of Mussatto’s Minutes, we update Brent Venables’ list of best wins, search for help in figuring out the Sooners and check in on a local running back who’s doing big things in Denton, Texas.
We also log into Tankathon like its 2022 and highlight the most prolific 3-point shooting team in women’s college basketball.
Let’s get to it.
Ranking Brent Venables’ best wins at OU
Didn’t we just do this a couple of weeks ago after OU’s win in Knoxville, Tennessee? Yeah, but now that list is already outdated.
Spoiler alert: After Saturday, there’s a new No. 1.
5. Sept. 6, 2025: OU 24, Michigan 13. The first of three 2025 games on this list. A barometer game against a blue blood. The win has aged pretty well, too. The Wolverines are 8-2.
4. Nov. 23, 2024: OU 24, Alabama 3. Brent Venables has owned the state of Alabama. He’s a combined 4-0 against Auburn and Alabama since OU joined the SEC.
3. Nov. 1, 2025: OU 33, Tennessee 27. Winning at Rocky Top is how the Sooners started this magical month.
2. Oct. 7, 2023: OU 34, Texas 30. It takes a lot to trump an OU-Texas win, Venables’ only Red River Rivalry win.
1. Nov. 15, 2025: OU 23, Alabama 21. Venables was on the hot seat to start the year. No longer. His Sooners are two home wins away from making the playoffs.
Elephant handlers
The Sooners are on a short list of teams with an all-time winning record against Alabama (minimum five games).
Texas (8-2-1): Three of Texas’ wins against Alabama came pre-World War II, but dominance by the Longhorns nonetheless.
OU (5-2-1): OU is 5-1 this century against Alabama. The lone loss came in the 2018 Orange Bowl.
Notre Dame (5-3): Notre Dame won the first four meetings. Alabama has won three out of the last four.
Michigan (4-3): Only once have they met in the regular season.
TCU (3-2): They played three times from 1955-57. TCU won all three, outscoring Alabama 72-6. Then the Crimson Tide beat the Horned Frogs in 1974 and 1975 by a combined score of 86-3.
Help: I can’t figure OU out
I have to alert you to my cold streak in picking OU games. It’s so dismal that it deserves mention.
Forget picking against the spread, I have not picked the straight-up outcome of an OU football game correctly since the Sooners beat Kent State on Oct. 4 — mad props for that one, huh?
My five-game losing streak started in the Cotton Bowl.
OU-Texas: I picked the Sooners. The Longhorns won.
OU at South Carolina: I picked the Gamecocks. The Sooners won.
OU vs. Ole Miss: I picked the Sooners. The Rebels won.
OU at Tennessee: I picked the Vols. The Sooners won.
OU at Alabama: I picked the Tide. The Sooners won.
I’ve got terrible news for you, Sooner fans. I’m picking OU to beat Missouri this weekend.
Shawnee’s Caleb Hawkins sets North Texas record
North Texas running back Caleb Hawkins, from Shawnee’s North Rock Creek High School, rushed for 189 yards and a program-record five touchdowns in the Mean Green’s win against UAB on Saturday.
Two weeks earlier, Hawkins ran for 197 yards and four touchdowns against Navy.
“He’s amazing,” North Texas coach Eric Morris said after the game.
Hawkins has 16 rushing touchdowns on the season, second in the nation behind Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy (19).
Hawkins’ 933 rushing yards are the most of any freshman.
Morris should be at or near the top of OSU’s list for its head coaching vacancy. He not only has a quarterback to bring with him in Drew Mestemaker, but maybe a running back, too, in Hawkins.
Cowgirls cashing in from 3
Last week, the OSU women’s basketball team became the first team in the country to reach 5-0. And after a much-deserved week of rest, the Cowgirls are headed to New York City for a 6 p.m. Wednesday game at St. John’s (3-1).
OSU has the nation’s sixth-best point differential, outscoring opponents by 53.8 points per game. Granted, those opponents have been New Orleans, East Texas A&M, Langston (NAIA), Oral Roberts and Prairie View A&M. You’d struggle to find a lighter schedule, but impressive nonetheless.
Here’s what’s more impressive: OSU is averaging a Division I-best 14.4 3-pointers per game on 34.8 attempts per game — which also leads the nation. OSU is cashing in on that crazy volume by shooting 41.4% from deep.
For context, the OSU women would rank eighth in the NBA in 3-point makes per game and 20th in attempts. And those guys play 48 minutes as opposed to 40!
Freshman guard Lena Girardi is averaging 10.6 3-point attempts per game — one fewer than Stephen Curry. And Girardi is making 40% of them.
Senior guards Micah Gray and Haleigh Timmer are averaging 8.8 and 6.8 3-pointers per game, shooting 43% and 53% respectively.
Per OSU, its 72 3-pointers is the most in a team’s first five games this century.
- 2025-26 OSU: 72
- 2019-20 Florida Gulf Coast: 71
- 2023-24 Utah: 69
- 2017-18 Florida Gulf Coast: 69
- 2013-14 Sacramento State: 69
Where Thunder pick swap with Clippers stands
The 2026 NBA Draft class is a lot like the Thunder roster: absolutely loaded.
The last thing OKC needs is another top pick, but the Clippers’ 4-8 start has Thunder fans feeling greedy.
The Thunder can and will swap picks with the Clippers, part of the SGA/Paul George trade that keeps on giving.
I did three lottery simulations on tankathon.com, our old friend, Sunday morning. The Clippers’ pick landed at 10th, fourth(!) and 10th.
Bradley Beal is out for the season (which could be a blessing in disguise). Kawhi Leonard is already hurt. James Harden is looking old.
The Clippers aren’t this bad, but I think they’re going to have a hard time getting to .500. And if things unravel … look out. The Thunder could find itself near the top of the lottery again.
The Thunder can also swap picks with the 76ers and Rockets. OKC is owed a first-round pick from Utah, but it’s top-eight protected. The Jazz has been spunky, but no way is the Utah front office going to allow that pick to slip away.
As things stand, the Thunder would have three first-round picks: 10th (via Clippers), 18th (via 76ers) and 27th (via Rockets).
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football on verge of CFP berth thanks to Brent Venables’ epic year
