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Oklahoma Jumps Into Top 25, Named ESPN Team of the Week

The Sooners have won six in a row and are coming off a big week that included a takedown of No. 2-ranked Kansas State and a road win at OSU.
John E. Hoover|
Oklahoma Jumps Into Top 25, Named ESPN Team of the Week
Oklahoma Jumps Into Top 25, Named ESPN Team of the Week

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Oklahoma Sooners

After two huge wins last week, Jennie Baranczyk and the Oklahoma Sooners are reaping the rewards.

OU was named ESPN’s National Team of the Week on Monday, and later the Sooners landed a spot in the Associated Press Top 25.

OU returned to this season’s rankings for the first time since November by landing at No. 24 following a pair of impressive Big 12 Conference wins.

The Sooners took down No. 2-ranked Kansas State 66-63 on Saturday, then went into Stillwater and rallied to beat Oklahoma State 81-74.

Oklahoma is now on a six-game winning streak, which included a win in Austin over No. 10-ranked Texas and a home victory over Kansas.

After a rough start to the season — a season in which she had to replace four long-time starters and rebuild the lineup almost from scratch — Baranczyk has guided OU to a 15-6 record overall and a run to first place in the Big 12 standings at 9-1.

OU plays a home game against TCU on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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