West of Everest: An Oklahoma Football Podcast

Ep. 329 - That’s a Lazy OU/Texas SEC Take

After a quick preview of what's coming up on the show today, the guys jump into OU officially being a member of the SEC. Will this show get a bunch of new listeners from fans from SEC teams (2:10)? We have to make some corrections from previous shows because we get things wrong sometimes. A listener gets an assist for showing us the way about a Dallas Cowboys topic. Does Lee have a blind spot for defensive players in the NFL? We also find a way to bash USC (4:55). Another mistake we made revolves around Alabama's new head coach Kalen DeBoer and his OC. Good thing we are here to set the record straight (10:40). Let's talk about OU's "Welcome to the SEC" event that did not produce really anything interesting, with maybe the exception of Joe Castiglione taking a mini shot at Lincoln Riley. Where would OU be right now if Riley had not left for USC (13:40)? Barrett Sallee talked about the future of OU and Texas in the SEC on a recent podcast. We play what Sallee said and then react to it all (30:50). Thanks to the "Cover 3 Podcast" for an idea for a bit. Grant wants to pretend we are 5-star recruits and are picking our top 5 schools outside of OU. Both guys take different routes to picking their top 5 (1:09:45). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 328 - OU’s Excellent Recruiting, More Season Win Totals, & EA’s Rankings

The guys open the show talking about OU's official entry into the SEC, which is set for Monday. Lee apologizes for bringing up a topic that we always beat to death during the offseason (2:00). We provide our thoughts on Bud Elliott's latest "Blue Chip Ratio" rankings. OU's improved their standing in this since 2017 (6:45). Grant has some season win totals that have caught his eye. We begin with a theme on this show, which is ripping on Miami (26:15). Let's talk about Kansas State's win total (35:15). Grant thinks Alabama's win total is a little inflated (41:30). We hit on Tennessee and Missouri (51:00). Grant thinks Florida State is going to go under their win total (57:50). Flipping over to teams who Grant likes to hit their over. Virginia Tech, NC State, UCF, Iowa, Nebraska, and West Virginia (1:01:30). Grant gives his thoughts on Penn State and Ole Miss (1:10:15). EA Sports College Football 25 released some rankings that everybody is talking about. Lee's seen games at Kyle Field and Tiger Stadium. Is OU too high on the "toughest places to play" list (1:17:00)? EA has several teams ranked way too high on offense, particularly Colorado. Hopefully Jackson Arnold is good (1:24:10). OU's ranked 12th on defense and 17th in the overall rankings (1:29:35). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 327 - Questioning National Pundits & Venables Gets a New Deal

Lee questions why people put any stock into what national college football writers/pundits say. Grant explains why there's a big interest in what those people say and talks about why he's annoyed with the national narrative surrounding OU (2:45). Brent Venables got a new contract this week. Should this even be a story? Lee lays out the potential worst case scenario if it turns out that Venables is not the right guy for OU (25:00). USC lost a pair of 5-star DL commitments this week. Grant explains more why he thinks USC will be bad in 2024. Lee is worried that one of his theories about college football may end up being wrong, and Grant explains why that could be the case (42:00). Lee identifies teams that you may want to bet the over or the under on their season win total. We find out there's a lot of agreement here from Grant. Teams we hit on: USC, SMU, OSU, Iowa, Oregon, Texas A&M, Colorado, and Michigan. Grant briefly previews a topic for the next show (1:02:40). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 326 - Two Players Arrested & We Evaluate the Defensive Line

The guys begin the show talking about Deion Burks and Makari Vickers recently getting arrested. What does this mean for both of them? What kind of punishment can we expect? Lee looks back at how Dabo Swinney has punished Clemson players for getting arrested over the years. We talked about this story way longer than we expected (1:20). We received more clarity on upcoming OU kickoff times. This is terrific for planning purposes. Do SEC teams ever play cold night games (34:50)? We continue evaluating the Sooners' roster by placing each player into 1 of 6 categories. Today we are doing a deep dive through the defensive line group. You're going to see a bunch of players in category 4 because we need to see more. Can Ashton Sanders or Davon Sears turn into a solid contributor? The future looks incredibly bright for 4 players, but how much will these guys play in 2024? Let's rip on PFF College for old times sake (51:30). Since this episode is super long, we continue on talking about the Big 12 exploring the idea to sell their naming rights. Is this a clown show, or a shrewd business move (or both) (1:50:30)? | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 325 - OU Secondary Deep Dive & Josh Heupel’s HoF Credentials

The guys open the show talking about how they're not interested in really any type of summer camp, and provide an update on plans for SEC Football Media Days. Three former Sooners are on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. Rocky Calmus should be a lock, but what about Josh Heupel (6:35)? The guys continue evaluating the Sooners' roster by placing each player into 1 of 6 categories. This week we're doing the secondary. There's a bunch of 4's. Lee is not as high on Kendel Dolby, while Grant is not as high on Woodi Washington. There's debate surrounding Peyton Bowen. Is Gentry Williams a 1? Is Lee heightist? Join us for a deep dive into the corners and safeties on OU's roster (18:30). The guys talk about trading all of the OU softball national titles for one additional football national championship. Which team would you pick for that national title? And why is summer so boring (1:16:45)? | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 324 - Riley Tries to Duck LSU & We Evaluate OU’s Linebackers

The guys open the show with some brief talk about the OU softball team beating Florida and advancing to the WCWS. It leads to Lee admitting that he does not care much at all for the spring sports, so if you want in depth baseball/softball analysis -- go somewhere else (1:30). We've recently learned new kickoff times for OU games this fall. None of them are at 11am. Isn't this what we were waiting for? Grant really wants to go to the LSU game late in the year (7:00). Let's all laugh at Lincoln Riley trying to get out of playing LSU. Grant's been watching games from 2017 and he says Riley looks the same then as he does now. The guys debate whether OU would have beaten Alabama in the National Championship game in 2017. Grant says no, Lee says yes (16:30). We react to CBS's head coach rankings. Riley is ranked high simply because of his overall record, right? Brent Venables vs Lincoln Riley right now. Venables vs. Marcus Freeman? Eli Drinkwitz is ranked way too high. Plus all the coaches we would rather have over Sark (30:50). We evaluate the linebackers on the Sooners' roster by putting all of them into 1 of 6 categories (48:00). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 323 - NCAA Football 25 Reveal & Categorizing the OL Group

The guys open the show celebrating the anniversary of a very good movie being release, before talking about the full reveal of the NCAA Football 25 video game. Grant also admits that he's already bought the game (2:20). The guys continue their evaluation of the OU roster. This week we are putting the offensive linemen into 1 of 6 categories (18:10). We finish up the show by going to the WoE Facebook page. There's a comment/question about OU's opening Friday night game. Plus what should be our standard for OU's defense in year 3 of Brent Venables? Lee throws out a best case scenario comp team to what OU could be this fall, and Grant talks about brutal college football schedules (54:40). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 322 - Tawee Walker’s Side of the Story Sounds Familiar

A large portion of this show is us revisiting the Tawee Walker/DeMarco Murray story from the regular season. Walker recently talked about his reasons for leaving OU. The guys play three different clips from Walker and provide reactions to each clip. We go over all the pertinent facts from the 2023 season. Many other running backs catch strays. Hopefully we find out the RB issues were all a Jeff Lebby thing (3:30). General Booty has found a new home. Would it have been better if he somehow ended up at Iowa (44:25)? FOX will air Big 12 and Big Ten games on Friday nights and there's not a whole lot of interesting matchups (47:40). ESPN and TNT has reached an agreement to air CFP games and the first round of the playoff will also coincide with some NFL games (52:30). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 321 - Lole Spurns Sooners for Texas & We Assess OU’s WRs and TEs

Grant is playing injured during this episode as the guys reminisce about the time Hugh Freeze coached a game from a hospital bed. After a brief intro, the guys talk about Jermayne Lole flipping his commitment to OU over to Texas (4:20). Reggie Grimes has found a new team (12:00). We continue our evaluation of the OU roster by putting each player into one of six different categories. We start with the WRs. This part of the show includes some wild Grant conspiracy theories, ripping on Big Ten QBs, Todd Bates catches a stray for some reason and there's other shenanigans (14:00). Over to the TEs as we continue our roster evaluation (49:40). We read a very nice message from the WoE Facebook page reacting to the question Grant asked last week on the show. Plus the guys briefly talk about how the podcast release schedule is going to be different for the next episode and we've received more news about the EA Sports college football game (1:02:15). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets

Ep. 320 - The Significance of OU Landing Damonic Williams

After some brief Cinco de Mayo talk, the guys jump into the significance of OU picking up Damonic Williams out of the transfer portal (3:25). General Booty and Gavin Freeman both entered the portal this week. Freeman has committed to OSU. We talk about the numbers and go over once again why Freeman's time with the Sooners was frustrating (30:20). The guys take a look at the QBs and RBs on the OU roster and put them all into 6 different categories: Top Player/Good, solid starter/Average/Need to see more/Below average/Move on (45:00). A very brief talk about Deion Sanders/Colorado (1:17:25). Grant has a question for the listeners about how they consume the history of OU football (1:19:40). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonTweets