I’m about to cheer for Oklahoma?

What I am about to write is going to be painful. It may cause me to lose every friend I’ve ever had, and be disowned from my family.

I am a life-long Kansas State University fan. I have two uncles who are proud graduates of K-State, and I myself was enrolled.

And so, the University of Oklahoma has not been a favorite team of mine through the years, to say the least.

But, with all the athletes I have been following in Kansas high schools now putting on Oklahoma uniforms, I will have to swallow my pride and cheer for the Sooners.

This will be a world of uncharted territory for me.

Perhaps the most recognizable Kansas high school star heading to Oklahoma is Blake Bell. All eyes will be on the Carroll senior quarterback and OU commit this year. Last year as a junior, Bell obliterated defenses, completing over 63 percent of his passes for 3,240 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Add in 336 yards rushing with a 3.7 yard average and 12 rushing touchdowns, and you have the number two-ranked quarterback in the country.

Bell is only one of two returning starters on Carroll’s offense, but his presence alone puts the Golden Eagles in the discussion at the top of the GWAL this year with Heights, and Northwest.

Gone are the receivers that picked up the vast majority of Bell’s passing yardage last year. So, this year’s crop of receivers better get ready, because the ball will be on target. 63 percent is a number achieved only with great decision making, combined with accurate execution.

On the hardwood this winter, look out for recent Derby graduate, and now OU basketball player Joanna McFarland. McFarland left a huge mark on the Derby record books, with school records in single game scoring (47), season scoring (587) and career points (1,818).

If you want to know exactly what McFarland is capable of, ask the Wichita Southeast Golden Buffalos. In a game against Southeast last year, McFarland exploded for a 47-point, 31-rebound performance.

47 points and 31 rebounds?

Really?

I did a spit-take the first time I heard those numbers. Oklahoma lost the Paris sisters off last year’s Final Four team, but made a big addition to the team for the next four years with McFarland.

McFarland’s brother Jacob, a K-State engineering student, feels the full force of this rooting interest dilemma, and agreed whole-heartedly when I explained my discomfort with rooting for the Sooners to Joanna. McFarland’s older sister Jessica played basketball for K-State from 2002 to 2006. Middle sister Jackie started her Big XII basketball career at Colorado in 2004.

Keeping things in the winter season, we move on to the handful of Kansans that joined an OU wrestling recruiting class ranked in the top three in two different national rankings.

Tyler Caldwell, who will redshirt in his freshman year at OU, along with Goddard teammate Boaz Beard, put themselves in the record book last year, becoming the only teammates to graduate as four-time state champions.

Caldwell is the 43rd-ranked wrestler in the country and is the eighth-best wrestler in the country at 160 pounds.

Caldwell’s roommate at OU, Wichita Heights wrestler Kendrick Maple, finished his career as a Falcon with a perfect 81-0 record and two state championships in his junior and senior years.

Wrestling is not nearly as easy as Maple made it look at last season’s state tournament. Every one of his matches was won by fall, or technical fall, including a technical fall in 2:17 of the championship match.

Kyle Detmer completes the Kansas trio of OU wrestlers. After being upset in the state finals two years ago, Detmer wore the Bishop Carroll singlet with a vengeance last year. Detmer cruised to a 5A state title at 160 pounds and left an impressive wake of destruction, including a win over 2008 Cadet Greco National Champion Chase Nelson in the finals of the Carroll tournament.

This venture into OU sports will be a difficult one for me, but it is not a venture of obligation. Despite my disdain, OU has one of the premier athletic departments in the country. The Sooners do not accept anything but the best athletes in their programs. These Kansans have earned their spots at OU, and we will all be extremely proud of them, and the way they have represented our state.

Even if it kills us.