with actual game experience). They competed throughout the summer and well into fall practice. On August 21, 2007, it was announced that Bradford would start the first game of the season. NCAA violations In 2006, the team and the fanbase were stunned when the returning starting quarterback, Rhett Bomar, was kicked off the team one day before the start of fall practice. Quarterback-turned-wide receiver Paul Thompson was converted back to quarterback and led the Sooners to an 11–3 season capturing the Big 12 Championship and competing in a BCS bowl game. However, the fallout of the Bomar scandal began to affect the team in 2007. On July 11, 2007, the NCAA announced a finding of "failure to monitor" the employment of student athletes and handed out penalties, most of which were extensions of punishments already set in place by the university. Probation until May 2010 The loss of two scholarships through the 2009–10 season A reduction by one of the number of coaches who can recruit off campus A public reprimand and censure A disassociation with the dealership manager for five years All wins from the 2005 season were vacated, changing the team's record from 8–4 to 0–4 for that year The university announced that it would appeal the Infraction Committee's finding and the vacation of the wins from the 2005 season. University president David Boren released a statement that the university "[does] not believe that erasing the 2005 season from the record books is fair to the over 100 student-athletes and coaches who played by the rules and worked their hearts out for a successful season." The Sooners won the appeal to get back their wins from the 2005 season. Recruits National Signing Day was on February 7, 2007, and Oklahoma was set to sign many talented high school athletes from around the country. It ended up being a smaller class than usual due to the loss of only a few seniors. In addition to the seniors leaving, running back Adrian Peterson left early for the NFL Draft and three other players were set to be on medical redshirt for the upcoming season. There was some separation in Oklahoma's recruiting ranking by the two major recruiting websites. Scout.com ranked the Oklahoma recruiting class as the 30th best in the nation, while Rivals.com ranked Oklahoma as the 14th best. In the pre-season, incoming quarterback Keith Nichol was named one of