I know that Gary being from the Columbus area had a lot to do with it (and I'm sure Hunter would rather spend a January Saturday in Athens than Lincoln), but it's still great to see the Dispatch giving more than just lip service to some real positives on the OU campus. Friday they even had a story about the big increase in applications, especially out-of-state applications, at OU:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/20/...
Don't know if there's a direct tie to athletics but I'm sure having the football team on ESPN six times during Nov. and Dec. didn't hurt.