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In the past, Oklahoma vs. Cincinnati could have made for an intriguing early-season non-conference litmus test, a matchup between a traditional powerhouse and a rising Group of 5 heavyweight.

Now, though, it’s an important Big 12 showdown, a contest between two teams who will have little chance to build up their rivalry before their paths diverge next season.

For the Bearcats, the goal is to make a splash in their first game as a Big 12 team. The Sooners, meanwhile, are looking for one last year of conference dominance before they jump ship for the SEC.

It all kicks off what should be a great day of college football, and “Big Noon Kickoff” is in Cincinnati to document it all.

With the pregame show wrapping up, it’s time to settle in for the game, with live in-game analysis from FOX Sports’ Bryan Fischer!

No. 16 Oklahoma (3-0) at Cincinnati (2-1)

Halftime — Notes at the break

If Cincinnati fans were expecting a shootout for their first Big 12 conference game, they were very mistaken after the first half from Nippert devolved into a slugfest between two physical defenses. 

QB Dillon Gabriel was the most consistent source of yards for the visitors from Norman, throwing for 212 yards and the game’s only touchdown while tacking on 8 more yards on the ground. The rest of his backfield was somewhat missing in action, as the team rushed for just 1.9 yards per carry and it felt like every handoff was met by a defender in the backfield.

Luckily for Brent Venables, his defense has been able to pick up the slack to hold the Bearcats to just 2-of-9 on third down while picking off Emory Jones once (the Florida/Arizona State transfer also completed just 13 passes in the half). The Bearcats had just two plays that went beyond 15 yards offensively, and they again struggled in the red zone. Still, it’s remarkably just a seven-point game and there for the taking by either side.

0:11 2Q: 

Woof, Cincy’s red zone issues have continued. They drew a penalty, made some errant throws, and then yanked kick to keep points off the board. Far from how the Bearcats wanted to enter Big 12 play, this has become a real thorn for Scott Satterfield as his offense seems almost allergic to crossing the goal line. The silver lining is at least they’re only down a score despite the uneven offensive effort.

0:58 2Q: Sooners avoid disaster

The Sooners were lucky to punt it away as a Dillon Gabriel lateral was a bounce or two away from Cincinnati scooping up a big play. It’s a big opportunity for Cincinnati to tie things up before halftime with 58 seconds.

1:41 2Q: Playing it safe

The Sooners clearly don’t think UC has any speed to beat them deep. They’re playing everything in front of them and daring the Bearcats to dink and dunk down the field without making a mistake.

05:02 2Q: Picked off!

Just when Cincinnati’s pass game was starting to roll with some nice throws by Emory Jones, the transfer quarterback wound up taking too much of a risk by throwing into double coverage and was picked off. On top of spoiling some nice receptions from Xzavier Henderson and Chamon Metayer, it put UC’s defense back on the field.

8:44 2Q: Sooners settle for three

An errant throw by Dillon Gabriel in the red zone led to a field goal for OU, which Cincy will take after allowing another lengthy drive. The key play was that third-and-19, which Oklahoma improbably picked up on a simple draw. The Bearcats defense has to be kicking itself for not getting that stop as they stayed on the field even longer than they should have.

13:31 2Q: Sputtering Cincy

The Bearcats have punted it away again and Scott Satterfield can’t be happy with how his offense is playing right now (3.4 yards per play). They had a second-and-3 but wound up failing to pick up the first down to put the pressure back on their own defense to get another stop. It feels a little too early to say it’s a dangerous time for the home side, but it feels like this upcoming drive is a critical one.

0:34 1Q: TOUCHDOWN SOONERS!

That was more like what we’ve seen so far this season from Oklahoma on that six–play, 66-yard touchdown drive that took just 1:47 off the clock. Dillon Gabriel was in the thick of it as the team’s leading rusher, opening up the RPO game considerably as we saw on that pass Nic Anderson took into the end zone. UC’s linebacking corps is banged up and OU is taking advantage by going sideline-to-sideline and seeing if they can catch up.

4:23 1Q: Cincinnati has control

Wow, just when OU started to get things going with the ground game, Cincy’s defense came up with a big stop on third down and saw Bryon Threats punch the ball away from Dillon Gabriel to force the fumble. All the momentum on the side of the Bearcats.

7:39 1Q: Bearcats strike first!

Cincinnati still hasn’t done anything offensively — 2.7 yards per play — but the Bearcats took advantage of the short field to knock home the first points of the game and an early 3-0 lead. Not sure if QB Emory Jones is going to settle down given the atmosphere, but it sure seems like he’s a little overeager and not getting a good base on his throws, as he is just 2-of-5 for eight yards on dropbacks.

11:34 1Q: Sputtering start for Sooners offense

Not the start that Brent Venables was hoping for on offense, with the snap hitting Dillon Gabriel in the facemask on third down and the veteran QB doing well enough to even get a pass off to avoid the sack. UC’s defense, playing without star LB Deshawn Pace, looked solid against the run on that first drive as the Nippert crowd made their voice heard.

13:29 1Q: Defense rules

Good first series for Oklahoma’s defense in forcing an early three-and-out. Been a lot of talk about the Sooners’ improved front seven, and you can tell early on they got some solid push up the field as they try to establish themselves in the trenches.

PREGAME SCENE

Unnecessary roughness … Ingram on the Bearcat!

Coach Bob Stoops joins the BNK team.

Nice try, Coach. 

Surf’s Up!

Oklahoma’s Brent Venables and Bearcats’ Scott Satterfield talk strategy ahead of their matchup.

Ribs for breakfast?!

Nick Lachey had 98 degrees of disrespect for this Sooners fan.

Cincinnati native Nick Lachey is in the house.

Jowon Briggs is hitting all the right notes.

Breaking down eight key unbeaten teams

There’s a “promposal” on the table in Cincy. 

Mark Ingram always knows how to get the crowd hyped!

Pregame party in session …

PREGAME READING

Top 4:

Week 4 wagering: Chris “The Bear” Fallica shares predictions for his favorite Week 4 matchups. Read more.

Are they done: Here’s Fallica’s take on Alabama’s “test of humility.”

Jordan Travis on his mentality ahead of the Seminoles meet up with Tigers.

Coach Meyer talks key components in the Notre Dame vs. Ohio State game.

How Andrel Anthony became an Oklahoma star: WR Andrel Anthony was languishing at Michigan before entering the transfer portal. He eventually found a home at Oklahoma, along with an offense to suit his skill set. Read more from Michael Cohen.

Who scouts are watching in Week 4: Is undersized Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel a future pro? He’s only one of several players NFL scouts will be watching closely in a stacked Week 4 slate. NFL Draft expert Rob Rang reveals what he’ll be looking for.

Who will lead the Spartans?

What we’re watching in Oklahoma-Cincinnati, and the rest of Week 4: Can Oklahoma pass its first real test? Can Colorado and Notre Dame pull off upsets? Our experts share the storylines they’re most interested in during Saturday’s action. Read more.

Contenders or pretenders?: A quarter of the way through the season, it’s a good time to examine each Power 5 conference and analyze which teams are legitimate contenders. Can Oklahoma challenge Texas? Can anyone stop Michigan? And who will emerge in a loaded Pac-12? Bryan Fischer has the story.

PREGAME NUMBERS TO KNOW

2010: The last time Oklahoma and Cincinnati met. The Sooners are 2-0 all-time against the Bearcats.

30: The number of tackles Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman has this season, which leads the Big 12.

9.3: The average number of points Oklahoma’s defense is allowing per game through three weeks.

+139: Oklahoma has the highest scoring differential in the FBS this season, having outscored opponents 167-28.

3: Rushing TDs this season by Cincinnati QB Emory Jones, which is tied for the most of any Big 12 quarterback.

10: The number of sacks Cincinnati’s defense has through three games, which is tied for second-most in the Big 12 this season.

45.5%: Completion rate the Bearcats are holding opposing quarterbacks to — third-best in the nation.

[More numbers to know in Week 4 games]

And more reading around the sport …

The engine that makes Colorado go: Quarterback Shedeur Sanders has lit a fire in the Buffaloes, just like his father and coach Deion Sanders has done across the entire sport. RJ Young explains the impact of both. 

The next great Buckeyes QB?: Kyle McCord had his best game yet in Week 3, but with No. 9 Notre Dame waiting in South Bend on Saturday, it’s time for Ohio State’s first-year starter to sink or swim. Laken Litman has the story.

Who’s up next at Michigan State?: With Mel Tucker on the way out, here are two potential candidates to take over the Spartans program. Read more.

Bryan Fischer is a college football writer for FOX Sports. He has been covering college athletics for nearly two decades at outlets such as NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and NFL.com among others. Follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.

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With the official start of practice just a few weeks away, UMHoops and Inside the Hall have once again partnered to bring you our annual preseason breakdown of the top 25 players in the Big Ten.

The series is broken into five parts with one post each day this week. Our fifth and final installment of players 5-1 for the 2023-24 season is available below:

Previously: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6

5. Boo Buie, Northwestern (6-foot-2, guard, fifth-year senior)

Buie has seen it all during his four years at Northwestern. The 6-foot-2 guard helped Northwestern to the NCAA tournament and has seen every defensive coverage, taken every shot on the floor and been through all of the highs and lows this sport has to offer. Buie has over 1300 shot attempts in four years and has used at least 24 percent of Northwestern’s possessions in each of his collegiate seasons.

There’s no reason to think he won’t flirt with 30 percent usage again this season, but his chances of ending the year as an All-Big Ten first-teamer hinge on Northwestern’s ability to grind out wins in a similar fashion to last season.

Buie hit a career-high in 2-point shooting last year at 46.7 percent but shot just 31.8 percent from 3-point range on 201 attempts. The next step for him individually is matching that volume while making better than 35 percent of his attempts.

4. Jahmir Young, Maryland (6-foot-1, guard, fifth-year senior)

Forecasting an up-transfer to the Big Ten is always tricky, but Young made the transition look easy.

The 6-foot-1 lefty averaged 15.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his first season in College Park and led the Terps to an NCAA tournament appearance in Kevin Willard’s first season.

Young knows how to balance facilitating and generating offense for himself. His assist rate ranked in the top ten in the Big Ten, but he can also score from anywhere on the floor. He shot close to 38 percent on 3s in conference play last season, ranked 15th in free throw rate (FTA/FGA) and converted at an 83.2 percent clip from the line.

Defensively, he’s one of the better on-ball perimeter pests in the conference. He ranked fifth in league play in steal percentage.

After testing the NBA draft waters, Young is back for a fifth college season and is expected to be the centerpiece on a Maryland roster looking to improve upon last season’s eight-seed in March Madness.

3. Tyson Walker, Michigan State (6-foot-1, guard, fifth-year senior)

Walker is one of the best tough-shot makers in the entire country. Per Synergy Sports, he scored .19 points over expected on his half-court shot attempts last year and shot better than 40 percent on off the dribble and catch-and-shoot jump shots.

Walker cut turnovers out of his game last season, with a 21.2 percent turnover rate down to 10.3 percent, and attempted almost twice as many threes as the previous season. He still connected at a 41.5 percent clip from deep, finishing the year 59-of-142 for the year.

If you are shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range, you generally need to shoot more often. That applied to Walker after his junior year, when he made 47.3 percent of 74 attempts, and still applies to him this year after making 41.5 percent of 142 attempts. There’s no reason that Walker can’t attempt more 3-point shots in his fifth year.

In previous eras, Walker’s impressive play in the NCAA tournament would have felt like the bittersweet end for a player who had put everything together in the closing moments of his career. Instead, he’ll use his COVID year and lead the Spartans for one more year – one with more preseason expectations than we’ve seen for a while in East Lansing.

2. Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois (6-foot-6, guard, fifth-year senior)

It seemed like a foregone conclusion that last season would be Shannon’s only campaign in the Big Ten, but the Chicago native is running it back for a fifth season.

As a likely second-round NBA draft pick, Shannon’s decision to return to school was likely driven by the NIL deals he secured as one of the best guards in college basketball. And he’ll be worth every penny to the Illini.

Shannon was a problem for Big Ten guards to defend last season as he used his size and shiftiness to get to his spots and score or draw fouls. He had the best free throw rate (FTA/FGA) in the Big Ten, an impressive feat in a league featuring Trayce Jackson-Davis and Zach Edey.

His outside shot isn’t the most consistent – 32.1 percent last season – but it’s good enough to keep defenses honest. As one of the better perimeter defenders in the league and one of the league’s premier open-court scorers, improving his shooting consistency is the key for Shannon in his final season.

1. Zach Edey, Purdue (7-foot-4, center, senior)

There’s not much more to say about Zach Edey, who racked up 22 KenPom MVPs last year, including the first 11 games of the regular season. Edey is returning for another season despite sweeping every national player of the year honor in 2022-23.

Edey let the nation at 17.4 points per game created out of post-ups and anchored a Purdue defense that allowed the 10th fewest shot attempts per game around the basket.

His size and ability changes the floor dynamic in every game. He demands attention from multiple defenders and helped Purdue finish 1st in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding rate, defensive rebounding rate, free-throw rate and free-throw rate allowed.

Purdue fell short in the NCAA tournament with a shocking upset defeat against Farleigh Dickinson. Still, there’s no reason to think Edey shouldn’t be the national player of the year frontrunner again this season.

Filed to: 2023-24 Big Ten preview

MANILA, Philippines — Team USA’s Anthony Edwards and Jordan’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added some spice to what otherwise would have been a low-drama game, staging an American playground-style duel that isn’t normally seen at the FIBA World Cup.

The two shooting guards went back-and-forth racking up points and giving the crowd at Mall of Asia Arena something to pay attention to besides the score as Team USA won 110-62 on Wednesday to finish first-round pool play 3-0.

The U.S. moves on to the World Cup’s second round and will play Montenegro (2-1) on Friday and Lithuania (3-0) on Sunday.

Edwards delighted in the meeting with Hollis-Jefferson, who was one of his mentors in training camp with the Minnesota Timberwolves his rookie year in 2020. Hollis-Jefferson, a six-year NBA veteran, came in as the event’s second-leading scorer and one of the happy stories of the first week.

“We haven’t seen each other since then, so it was fun,” Edwards said. “And yeah, we was talking with smack out there for sure.”

Edwards threw in several dunks, three 3-pointers and even a behind-the-back pass. He finished with 22 points in 19 minutes and also had eight rebounds and four assists.

Edwards also fouled Hollis-Jefferson twice, which is something Hollis-Jefferson has become an expert at while playing overseas the past two seasons. After drawing 15 fouls in a 39-point showing against New Zealand on Monday, Hollis-Jefferson drove, twisted and baited the U.S. into fouling him eight times.

Hollis-Jefferson finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds, though he was slowed after spraining his left ankle on a drive to the basket in the first half.

In a moment that sort of summed up the show, Edwards scored on back-to-back breakaways during the third quarter. On the first, Jordan’s Amin Abu Hawwas tried to get in Edwards’ way and forced him to abandon a highlight dunk attempt and settle for a layup. Edwards gave him a sideways look for ruining the chance.

Seconds later, after a Jordan turnover, Edwards had the ball on a break again. This time Abu Hawwas slowed down behind Edwards as he threw down a windmill dunk to the delight of the crowd.

Team USA coach Steve Kerr had seen enough late in the third, calling timeout to take out his starters. Edwards said farewell by tossing in a 35-footer that didn’t count.

Edwards was in one of his typical good moods after the contest and, with an average margin of victory of 34 points through three games, was feeling confident about Team USA’s chances of winning the World Cup for the first time since 2014 — especially after being asked about Sunday’s second-round game with Lithuania, which is also undefeated.

“I think we gonna win,” Edwards said with a smile. “We’re undefeated also. I think we have a great chance to win. We got great coaching staff. We got great players. And our confidence is at all times we not really worried about those guys.”

The most important thing that happened for the Americans in the game was a starting lineup change, Kerr’s first of the past month. He put in Josh Hart, who played strongly in the win over Greece on Monday, for Brandon Ingram.

The move was made for Ingram’s benefit, as he was struggling mostly as a spot-up shooter. With the second unit, he was able to play with the ball more in his hands, as he’s used to with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ingram immediately looked more comfortable as a playmaker and had his best game in Manila, racking up five assists with seven points in 15 minutes.

“We just felt like it was important to take a look at Josh with the starting group and Brandon with the next group to see if the combinations fit,” Kerr said. “I liked what I saw. The game wasn’t competitive, but there was good flow with both groups.”

Jaren Jackson Jr. also had a strong game, with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Serbia, Georgia and Brazil also advanced to the second round with victories Wednesday.