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NORMAN, Okla. -- Last season, Oklahoma reached the Final Four. This season, the coaches have picked the Sooners to finish sixth in the Big 12.The reasons are many. The core of the team, Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler, has moved on. Hield, an All-American who was edged by Michigan States Denzel Valentine for AP Player of the Year, now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans.Oklahoma still expects to be competitive as the holdovers take on more significant roles.Theyre a talented group, coach Lon Kruger said. How quickly they mature and grow into those roles remains to be seen, but certainly, we need them to do that. I think they can, and hopefully, even more quickly than people expect them to.Jordan Woodard, a senior who has started every game of his career, was second on the team with 13 points per game last season and shot 45.5 percent from 3-point range. He played primarily shooting guard last season, but hell play point guard most of this season.As he did last year, we need him to score, Kruger said. We need him to push the pace. We need him to be aggressive defensively. With the other three guys, they had the target on their back. Now, Jordans going to have that target on his back. Hes got a big adjustment in terms of preparing for that.Center Khadeem Lattin, known as a defensive specialist, will be expected to score now. Lattin averaged 5.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and just over two blocks per game last season.Much more aggressive this year offensively, Kruger said. Hell be a guy that we need to score. Hell be able to. Hes worked hard, put a lot of time in. Hes shooting the ball well.Here are some things to watch for with the Sooners:LATTIN LEADERNow that there are spots available for new leaders, Lattin can be heard throughout practices.With the seniors gone, hes stepped up and done a really nice job verbally and vocally and providing enthusiasm and energy, Kruger said. Khadeems brought that every day. Thats more of a natural role for him.THE WAIT IS OVERTalented swingmen Rashard Odomes and Dante Buford were behind more experienced players in the past, but they were good enough to play at most schools. Buford averaged 3.5 points last season. Odomes averaged 1.9 points. They will need to help replace Hields 25 points per game.FRESHMAN PHENOMKameron McGusty follows Hield as an Oklahoma recruit from Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. The 6-foot-5 freshman guard will challenge for a starting job.Anytime you have a freshman coming in, youre never sure how quickly its going to transpire, Kruger said. Hes a scorer, a slasher, shoots the ball well. He will definitely play a significant role. What that is remains to be seen based on production and results, but hes doing a really good job in practice.FINAL FOUR CARRYOVERKruger said the experience of reaching the Final Four last season will help his team. More importantly, the work ethic the Sooners needed to get there has been instilled into the program by the departed seniors.Well see that, probably, for years to come, Kruger said. The investment they made, the time they put in certainly has been carried over by this group, and hopefully, the next group and the group after that.RISING STAR?Christian James, a 6-foot-4 guard, worked his way into the rotation late in the season and had some key moments for the Sooners. He scored 13 points in the Big 12 Tournament against West Virginia and 12 points in the NCAA Tournament win over Texas A&M. Expectations will be much higher this season.Cheap Bulls Jerseys . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Bulls Jerseys From China . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. http://www.cheapbullsjerseyschina.com/ . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Womens Bulls Jerseys . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Wholesale Bulls Jerseys . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59.NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Florida Gators arent in the mood to pick apart a road win in the Southeastern Conference, especially after last weeks ugly loss.No matter what they might need to fix.Jordan Scarlett ran for a 4-yard touchdown with Eddy Pineiro adding a pair of field goals as No. 23 Florida held off Vanderbilt 13-6 Saturday.A wise man once said, `you even have to bring your ugly babies home from the hospital, and that was ugly, Florida coach Jim McElwain said. In fact that might have been what someone told my dad when I was born. But I feel really good that our guys found a way to win.Florida (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) came up with two interceptions and two sacks on a day where the Gators defense otherwise struggled against one of the nations worst offenses with three starting linemen missing most of the game.Ralph Webb ran for 110 yards as Vanderbilt outgained Florida 265-236 in total offense. The Commodores (2-3, 0-2) had a final chance to force overtime until Nick Washington intercepted a Wade Freebeck pass with 54 seconds left sealing the Gators win.The Gators never trailed and led 10-3 after Scarlett scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, and Pineiro kicked a 42-yard field goal as the half expired. Pinero added a 26-yarder with 8:17 left.Florida had a chance to pad its lead after Vanderbilt punter Sam Loy fumbled the snap and lost the ball with 5:07 left with the Commodores trailing 13-6. But Austin Appleby fumbled the snap on second-and-goal at the Vanderbilt 1 with 2:56 left giving the Commodores one last chance.Its beyond me how you fumble the ball on a quarterback sneak at the end of the game, McElwain said. It happened, and yet our defense stepped up. They had to step up twice.THE TAKEAWAYFlorida: This set up as the perfect trap game for the Gators between Tennessee and LSU against an opponent theyve dominated over the years. The Gators had the majority of the 30,565 fans in Florida colors and still came out sluggish. Still, the Gators take home their third straight win and 25th in the last 26 games in this series. McElwain complimented the turnout by the Gators fans.I really think it had an eeffect on one of those third downs when they were coming out of their end zone, McElwain said.ddddddddddddVanderbilt: The Commodores finally showed signs of the stingy defense that ranked in the top 30 nationally in a lot of categories last season. Better yet, Webb gashed a defense that had been giving up only 76.5 yards rushing.This group is playing to win, Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said. Were not satisfied with moral victories. There are no moral victories in football. This team is growing up and playing extremely hard.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Gators barely stayed inside the Top 25 after being routed by Tennessee . Voters will have to decide how impressive Florida was against Vanderbilt.THE REPLACEMENTSThe Gators played most of the game without three starting defensive lineman. Senior defensive tackle Joey Ivie missed the game with a thumb injury that will sideline him at least a month. Defensive ends Bryan Cox Jr. and Jordan Sherit played sparingly with injuries. Without them, sophomore defensive tackle Khairi Clark made his second career start, and defensive ends CeCe Jefferson (sophomore) and Jabari Zuniga (freshman) saw extensive time.Obviously, we were missing some guys, but I feel like we played well, Gators defensive tackle Caleb Brantley said.DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTVanderbilt had forced only two three-and-outs in each of the Commodores past three games. The Commodores opened this game forcing the Gators three-and-out on their first two drives. Adam Butler also had two sacks on one drive for a defense that hadnt managed more than one sack in each of the past three games.UP NEXTFlorida: The Gators return home to host LSU, the only SEC team to beat the Gators during the regular season last year in winning the Eastern Division.Vanderbilt: The Commodores visit Kentucky still looking for their first SEC win.---Online:AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org and AP-Top 25 Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-Top25Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker ' ' '