Is Blake Griffin's dunk now the best ever?

I've already stated my take on the Cincinnati Bearcats suspensions, so I'll leave that out of this preview, but the fact that three Bearcat players 6-9 and above won't suit up tonight when they host the Oklahoma Sooners should bode well for OU.

Since 6-9 Yancy Gates, 6-10 Cheikh Mbodji and 6-9 Octavius Ellis have been on the bench, Cincy has gone away from an inside game and has relied on the outside shot while cruising through a four-game win streak against inferior competition. In the four games since the brawl with Xavier, the Bearcats have averaged 29 three-point attempts per game, making 55 out of 116 -- 47.4% . To put it in perspective, before the suspensions, the most threes Cincy had attempted in a game was 20 in a win over Georgia, and against Xavier the Bearcats were a dismal 1 of 16 from behind the arc. During this span, Cincy has also seen the emergence of 6-4 Sean Kilpatrick, who has averaged 17.3 ppg in the past four as Cincy has gone mainly to a four guard set.

So the key for this game is for Oklahoma to not just defend the perimeter, but also keep banging the boards, as they have done all season. OU is averaging 42.2 rebounds per game, good for fourth nationally. If Romero Osby and Andrew Fitzgerald can bang inside, they should be able to free up looks for Steven Pledger and Cameron Clark.

Even with the suspended three, Cincy would have a tough time with the emerging Sooners, so without them, and having to rely on the outside shot, should mean the bigger, aggressive Sooners will leave Cincinnati with a victory... and maybe a chili cheese dog or two from Cincinnati's own Skyline Chili (which is infinitely better than Goldstar).

The game tips at 8pm CST and can be seen on ESPNU.

Well, it didn't take Mike Anderson long to return to Big 12 country. After leaving Mizzou to take the Arkansas Razorbacks job over the offseason, Anderson makes a familiar trip into Norman as the Hogs face the Oklahoma Sooners.

If you've seen Mizzou at any point over the last five years then you know what you're going to get from a Mike Anderson team: high intensity, full court defensive pressure.

But in this instance you can replace the names you're used to seeing in black and gold with new ones in cardinal and white. With leading scorer Marshawn Powell out for the year with a knee injury, the Hogs turn to freshman B.J. Young to lead the transition heavy offense. The freshman from -ironically-St. Louis is putting in 15.4 ppg and is aided in a balanced scoring attack by sophomore Mardracus Wade (10.9 ppg) and junior Julysses Nobles (10.4).

But the Sooners are much improved over last season, and a lot of that can be attributed to their new head coach, Lon Kruger.

Kruger has instilled a team philosophy in the Sooners, as evident nine players averaging double-digit minutes per game. (A tenth, Calvin Newell Jr., just left the team). Three remaining players are averaging double figure scoring led by Steven Pledger's 17.2 and followed by newcomer-of-the-year candidate Romero Osby and suddenly-hot Cameron Clark.

And it isn't your mama's OU team... slow and methodical. The high flying Hogs are only averaging a 1.6 more ppg - 80.6 to 79 - so the Sooners won't have to change up their offense too much to accommodate the press.

To remind Anderson of the last two times he's visited Norman (a 66-61 Mizzou loss in 2010 and a 75-66 Mizzou loss in 2008), OU needs to contain the Hog freshman and find a scoring replacement for Newell's lost points (watch for Cam Clark to explode...). Accomplish both of those, and the Sooners will be victorious.

The game tips at 2:00 p.m. CST and can be seen on ESPN3.

The NCAA put the Oklahoma Sooners on three years' probation and fined the school $15,000 for what it deemed as major violations within the program. Along with probation and the fine, OU was forced to forfeit all 13 of its 2009-10 wins and took away a scholarship. The majority of these penalties were proposed by the school after it reported violations by a former assistant coach while still on probation from the Kelvin Sampson phone call violations.

Now for a little diatribe. These punishments came down today and yesterday it was reported that Ohio State received a "failure to monitor" charge because a few players received $200 each from a booster. I am no advocate of cheating and think that responsible parties should be punished for breaking rules.

But in light of the other story that is permeating every conversation in America since the story broke this week, does anyone else feel that all these other issues are simply trivial. That trading a jersey for a tattoo, for calling a recruit or for a rogue booster to host a party for players is just not as important anymore? What used to be a big deal in my mind - and maybe many of yours - now seems like an afterthought.

I remember reading the Yahoo report on Miami and thinking that this was one of the biggest scandals in amateur sports.  "How dare they."

I remember thinking that Ohio State was getting roughed up, not because of a crime, but because of a cover-up. "Tressel should have told someone."

Now I read the grand jury report on this whole PSU tragedy and it all comes into perspective. I really don't care anymore if a player trades a jersey for a tattoo. I really don't care if a coach calls a high school recruit during a quiet period. I really don't care about any of it. Because in reality these are all made up rules that, valid or not, for all intents and purposes don't have any lasting influence on the parties involved.

What we are reading about in State College, PA is horrific and is life altering to the victims involved. These kids lost part of their youth, and now, with some of the victims in their mid to late twenties are having to relive it all again.

So while I don't think we should live in the collegiate Wild West where schools are doing whatever they see fit, I just want us all to take a step back and prioritize significance.

Thanks for the time.

Black Shoe Diaries, the SB Nation PSU blog, is taking an active response to help raise money and awareness for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). See full details on their site.

Oklahoma Sooners starting guard Steven Pledger has been suspended for the team's opening game on Friday against the Idaho St. Bengals by Sooner head coach Lon Kruger for a secondary violation of NCAA rules.

According to Kruger, Pledger received the suspension because of his involvement in a pro-am game this summer and his failure to submit the correct forms to the OU compliance office prior to the game.

The compliance office became aware of the minor violation by monitoring Pledger's Twitter account (@SPtheGhost2 ) and self-reported the violation to the NCAA.

Last season Pledger was the Sooners' third leading scorer and assist man, averaging 10.9 points per game and 1.7 assists per game. The junior is slated to take a larger with the graduation of Cade Davis.

In the Sooners exhibition victory over Washburn on Sunday, Pledger led the Sooners in scoring with 24 points in 21 minutes. He also contributed six rebounds.

Ledger will come off suspension and be available for the November 18 game against the Coppin St. Eagles.

How will the Oklahoma Sooners fare this season? What will their overall and Big 12 records be? Will they make a postseason tournament?

We'll answer all those questions, plus guess which teams they'll upset and which will upset them after The Jump.

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Predictions for the Oklahoma Sooners will up tomorrow, but in the meantime have a look at their schedule. I should note that the 76 Classic includes Oklahoma, Washington State, Boston College, Villanova, New Mexico, Saint Louis, Santa Clara and UC Riverside. Obviously Villanova would be the scariest team out of the bunch, but Washington State shouldn't be shabby either.

And for the record I love the round robin conference schedule.

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This isn't Lon Kruger's first rodeo in the Big 12. Longtime Kansas State fans probably remember Kruger's four seasons with the Wildcats over the second half of the 1980's. Even longer-time fans might even remember him as an assistant coach during the late 1970's. Kruger's head coaching stint with K-State was successful, making the NCAA tournament all four seasons, including one Elite Eight. However, after four years he moved onto Florida and then Illinois before testing the NBA waters and finally coming back to college to coach UNLV. In addition to his Elite Eight with K-State Kruger sports a Final Four on his resume.

But that's what he's done. The real question is what he'll do with an Oklahoma Sooner program in drastic need of a spark. Through solid recruiting, Jeff Capel established the Sooners as a regular challenger in the Big 12. Unfortunately for Capel, high profile problems came with high profile recruits and a combination of poor team chemistry and NCAA violations led to a talent drain in Norman.

The good news for Kruger is there is an established path for success: recruit, recruit, recruit. The question is whether he will be active enough on the recruiting trail to tap into the large pool of Texas talent right next door. Make no mistake, there will be a couple of years of rebuilding no matter how successful Kruger is recruiting. Only time will tell with everything after that.