Kansas clinches Big 12 title, Oklahoma makes case for league’s second best

Feb 22, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Ryan Spangler (00) handles the ball against Kansas State Wildcats forward Thomas Gipson (42) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

College basketball’s developing reputation for slower and more drawn out games seemed to disappear for one night. The clock kept moving closer and closing to the end of the regulation, and Oklahoma’s bid for an upset just was not meant to be in Lawrence.

It was an extremely tough pill to swallow for the Sooners, who are trying to rehabilitate their image as conference nobodies to Big 12 contenders.

The Kansas Jayhawks were undoubtedly the better team, winning their tenth straight Big 12 regular season title. But that’s okay.

Bill Self gets players Lon Kruger can’t. For now. In the mean time, OU needs to keep their spirits up.

Monday night, on one of college basketball’s biggest stages, Oklahoma went toe-to-toe with one of the best in the nation. Their efforts were ultimately not enough to push them past the fifth-ranked Jayhawks, but in a conference crowded with talent, the Sooners just might be the second best team behind KU.

Say what you will about Texas or Iowa State, but let’s be real here for a second. Oklahoma went in to Austin and pulled out a huge victory against the Longhorns. Iowa State was a top ten team, and fell to the Sooners in Norman.

Yes, the Cyclones repaid the Sooners in Ames, but in all fairness, that game was a coin flip from start to finish.

OU dropped games they had no business losing. West Virginia in Morgantown and Texas Tech in Norman for example.

However, what separates OU from the rest of the conference is their never die attitude.

Only one of OU’s losses came by double digits. That was to Michigan State, the top ranked team at the time, though, Oklahoma gave them a run for their money a day following their miracle win over Seton Hall.

The point is the Sooners have not been blown out by anybody. When they lose, it’s not by very much. And there’s usually a play or two you can point at and see where Oklahoma went wrong.

Some nights the shooting is there, some nights OU goes away from its philosophy. It’s been an inconsistent team, I’ll give you that. However, from top to bottom, Kansas is about the only team that gives Oklahoma match-up problems and defensively, one of the few teams that can put a stop to OU’s high-powered offense.

It’s a highly debatable statement, and you can make a case for multiple teams, but Oklahoma deserves the respect of being one of the conference’s top teams in 2014.

Forget what the polls think, Oklahoma’s played above and beyond with a group as young as Oklahoma possesses.

Tell us what you think, who is the Big 12’s second best team?