My friend Coley Harvey at the Orlando Sentinel saw something today indicating OU and FAMU will get together Sept. 8 at Owen Field. I see no reason at all to doubt it — especially considering I first heard the Rattlers as an option early this morning. (I inserted FAMU as a possibility in our web story when the Big 12 schedule was released.)

Let’s hope they bring the band. (Coley reminded me a hazing scandal currently has the band in timeout.)

The schedule is quickly coming together. I can’t imagine why OU would wait too, too long beyond today to release its three non-conference games, one of which we know for sure and two that seem all but officially set.

= Trav

Brown has been especially hot the past three weeks. He’s averaged 22.4 points and 5.0 assists the past five games.

“He doesn’t have to be shooting it to be the key guy, either,” said OU coach Lon Kruger. “He can penetrate and distribute. But he’s always a threat to score. He can hit the 3 and put the ball on the floor. That makes him hard to guard. Everyone on him obviously has to work hard.”

In a strange scheduling quirk, the Sooners (13-11 overall, 3-9 in league play) are done playing Kansas and Kansas State and have played every team except Texas. The rematch is scheduled in two weeks in Austin.

The Longhorns (16-9, 6-6) are riding a three-game winning streak. They’re projected as a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

“They’re playing as well as they have all year these past three ballgames,” Kruger said. “They had a big road win (at Texas A&M) and a 27-point swing Saturday against Kansas State. They were down 15 in the second half and went up 12. That’s a pretty impressive run.”

The Sooners are riding a season-worst four-game losing streak, including an embarrassing loss Saturday at Texas Tech, which was winless in league play entering the game.

“That was really surprising,” Kruger said. “Not to take anything away from Tech’s win because their guys worked really hard. But we weren’t pleased with what we did. We hadn’t really done that for awhile. Our practices had been good.

“We thought we had been playing as good as basketball the past couple of weeks as we’ve been playing all year. Then to come out and not have much going on either end was surprising, disappointing all those things.”

Kruger, though, stressed players continue to work hard.

“We’ve been practicing well,” Kruger said. “The enthusiasm level has been good. We have to transfer that (to games). It goes back to being a little bit more physical. We keep focusing on that, initiating some of that. We’ve done it at times but not consistently.”

Here is what Oklahoma is looking at this fall:

Sept. 22 – Kansas State in Big 12 opener

Oct. 6 – at Texas Tech

Oct. 13 – Texas (in Dallas)

Oct. 20 – Kansas

Nov. 3 – at Iowa State

Nov. 10 – Baylor

Nov. 17 – at West Virginia

Nov. 24 – Oklahoma State

Dec. 1 – at TCU

What immediately struck me: That’s quite the finish, with at West Virginia, OSU and at TCU in consecutive weeks down the stretch. I was really under the impression that West Virginia would be the conference opener, in September. I gather that might have been something that changed in the final models. If I’m OU, I would have wanted to go to Morgantown in September rather than November. Never know what you’ll get there late in the year.

Where’s the break: There’s only one gap in the conference schedule, and it’s Oct. 27 – the date of the Notre Dame game. A lot of fans are already asking me if there’s any wiggle room in this, and I doubt it, considering the Big 12 really did not want to move games after the release of the schedule.

What’s next: OU says the non-conference part of the schedule will be released “at a later date,” but there is reason to believe this might not be too far behind. The Oct. 27 home game against Notre Dame is set. UTEP is the discussed Sept. 1 opener, and then an FCS school is expected to fill the other date, either Sept. 8 or 15. But having all of early September open does leave as many options as possible for Joe Castiglione and the school.

= Trav

Someone within the league told me this morning that officials are “getting close,” but they’re still not quite there. So maybe West Virginia’s legal matters with the Big East are not fully resolved — or at least as far along as Hocutt thinks they are. Can’t blame Hocutt for his optimism, but it sounds as if there’s a good chance the wait continues into next week.

Again, on OU’s front, the Sooners are essentially set on their pair of open non-conference dates — it’s just a matter of the Big 12 schedule coming out first, before those are truly finalized. And maybe there’s still wiggle room to keep OU-Texas on Oct. 6, but, at last check, it sounded as if it was going back a week to Oct. 13.

= Trav

* Big 12 schedule coming Friday, Texas Tech’s Kirby Hocutt says

* Source: OU has its two vacant non-conference dates all but finalized

* Expectation is that OU-Texas will be Oct. 13, a week later than originally scheduled

CAMPUS CORNER — Texas Tech Kirby Hocutt was gathered in front of media types Thursday to talk about renovations to the school’s baseball stadium. The conversation inevitably turned toward football — and football scheduling.

Hocutt, sounding relieved, said to expect the Big 12 football schedule Friday. As in tomorrow. (At least we think he meant tomorrow. He just said Friday.)

Hocutt said changes were being adopted and discussed even as late as Wednesday night. But school officials, you can tell, have been getting closer and closer to releasing this. As we reported earlier in the week, interim league commish Chuck Neinas said TV execs received the tentative schedule last week, in time for the Feb. 1 deadline.

It could not be publicly released then because of West Virginia’s legal entanglements, but most parties felt as if the Mountaineers — at some cost — would be coming west in 2012. I’m not even sure if two schedules were actually developed. (That’ll be a good question, in hindsight.)

Sounds as if West Virginia has its issues with the Big East essentially settled. Remember that Feb. 9 — today — was the initial mediation date.

As far as OU is concerned, I’m told the pair of vacant non-conference opponents — Notre Dame has been set for years — are all but set. One is done, I’m told. The other’s finalization is dependent on the release of the Big 12 schedule. But they’re in place. I know, I know … you all want to know who the teams are — and where. Soon.

I can tell you it looks like the Red River game will be moved back a week, to Oct. 13. That’s still in the framework of the fair, but someone mentioned it’s Austin City Limits weekend in Austin, which I’m sure will disappoint some — mostly on the UT side of the rivalry.

We’ll be monitoring all of this tomorrow and in the next week, as it’s released.

= Trav

West Virginia trying to join the Big 12, hoping to play in the conference this fall, certainly is a variable. But the reason there’s been a slight delay is two or three games are still under discussion and might be moved to different dates.

While most of the schedule is complete, and a few schools know for certain what their 2012 Big 12 football league schedule looks like, the conference wants to wait until every team’s schedule is complete before releasing the entire schedule.

Interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas has said the schedule has been sent to TV partners. Athletic directors have a copy of the tentative schedule.

Since October, the Mountaineers have been petitioning the Big East to leave the conference to join the Big 12. West Virginia has informed Florida State it is cancelling its home-and-home series which some believe is a sign the Mountaineers are close to escaping the Big East.

West Virginia president James Clements has been on record saying the school’s plan is to exit from the Big East in time to begin Big 12 competition by July 1.

OU and OSU fans simply need to show a little more patience. The schedule will be released “soon.”

McCay, a wide receiver from the Kansas City area, was a highly touted recruit. It just didn’t work out for McCay at OU, which has a roster loaded with talented wide receivers.

McCay has transferred to Kansas under new coach Charlie Weis. The question is whether the NCAA “waives” the customary year McCay must sit out so he could play immediately this fall for the Jayhawks.

Having already used his redshirt year, plus seeing limited playing time this past year as a redshirt freshman, McCay is appealing to the NCAA so he doesn’t have to sit out one season. The appeal is McCay would have three years eligibility the next three years, staring with the 2012 season.

Tim Grunhard, a former NFL player with the Kansas City Chiefs who was hired by Weis, was close with McCay, who has a unique story. His father died when he was in high school at Bishop Miege.

“We’re hoping that he can play next year,” Grunhard is quoted in the story. “If you read the story and you read the letter and you read about some of the things he’s gone through in his life, I want to meet the NCAA compliance person that says no to him. Because if you say no to him, then obviously you don’t understand what’s so important to this kid and what a great person he is. We’re hoping it all works out.”

Although Grunhard didn’t provide specific details about the content of McCay’s letter, Grunhard painted a picture of a young man having been through more in his first two decades of life than most people endure during far longer stretches of time.

“He’s had a rough go of it,” Grunhard said. “Here’s a kid that pretty much couch-surfed all through high school and never had a home. His father passed away going into his senior year. He’s down in Oklahoma. He had some family issues. I think he was homesick. He was red-shirted, and he lost that football instinct for a little bit. But he’s the same old Justin being back here.”

The NCAA has to enforce rules to make it fair for all schools. But there are exceptions to every rule. If you know McCay’s story, which I wrote about two summers ago, you would hope the NCAA grants McCay’s “waiver” and he’s allowed to play this fall.

Wouldn’t that be interesting, a Stoops family homecoming? Get Ron Jr. and Youngstown State down here for some sort of jamboree, maybe?

Hypothetically, the teams would continue their home-and-home series with another round. OU clobbered the Seminoles here in 2010 and escaped with a 10-point victory in Tallahassee this past fall.

The Sooners want to build a formidable non-conference schedule, sure, but Notre Dame and Florida State? That might be a bit much, even if there would be plethora of Stoopses.

The Seminoles are suddenly in the market for a game because West Virginia dropped them earlier in the day Saturday. Let’s take that as an indication that the move to the Big 12 is likely, with the Mountaineers dumbing down their schedule since the conference season would be much more difficult than the Big East.

WVU’s move is what’s holding up the release of the Big 12 schedule. Some TV execs might have been given the tentative schedule, but no info will be divulged until the Mountaineers get things settled with the Big East.

Sept. 8 is the date FSU is eyeing, for what that’s worth. The only date OU has said it doesn’t want to touch is the Oct. 27 Notre Dame game.

Note, too, that the ‘Noles have spoken with Rutgers officials. That’s a school OU AD Joe Castiglione has spoken with, potentially for a neutral site game in the Meadowlands. If FSU snatches the Knights up first, I highly doubt they’d want to play both teams.

= Trav

The Jayhawks were on the verge of blowing out the Sooners but OU battled back to within 34-31 at halftime. Hitting its first 10 shots after intermission, No. 8 Kansas dominated the early segments of the second half to coast to an easy win at historic Allen Fieldhouse.

But heading into the home stretch of Kruger’s inaugural season in Norman it’s apparent the Sooners rarely, if ever, be at a coaching disadvantage.

The Sooners are improved. Individual players have improved. Part of that is a testament to players putting in the work. But it’s also a reflection of the impact being made by Kruger and his staff.

More than whether OU can reach the NIT, a realistic goal, this season is about laying a foundation for next season as much about where the Sooners finish in the Big 12 standings or their post-season fate.

Kruger’s comments in recent weeks have been revealing. He’s downplayed wins and losses. He’s stressed repeatedly the No. 1 goal is to improve on a daily basis, emphasizing the importance of learning how to compete mentally and physically in one of the top conferences in America.

Next season the Sooners essentially return their entire roster, losing only senior backup power forward C.J. Washington. A veteran team that will be bolstered five newcomers could develop into a top 25 team.

Progress is being made in Kruger’s inaugural season. Kruger and his staff are changing the culture. It’s another example of how the 59-year-old Silver Lake, Kan., product “can flat out coach.”