It’s tough to hit the panic button with the entire month of February to go, but the Sooners as of right now are on the bubble.
Well, maybe not on the bubble right now, but they’re on a slippery slope.
Oklahoma hasn’t won a road game since it crushed the Texas Longhorns in Austin. And after today’s loss to Baylor, Oklahoma desperately needs some resume-building wins.
I think home court is a huge part of it and the Big 12’s depth is outstanding. TCU almost beat West Virginia in Morgantown today and the Iowa State Cyclones lost to Texas Tech.
Oklahoma can definitely hang with Kansas and Iowa State is beatable. However, OU has to have their shots falling and it seems like they’re living by three point line once again in 2015.
The Sooners are currently ranked 19th in the country, and they may fall out of the Top 25. Joe Lunardi has the Sooners (as of Jan. 22) as the No. 5 seed in his latest Bracketology projections, so they can’t be TOO much on the bubble.
Oklahoma has seven losses in late January, which isn’t awful. The Sooners can still make it to 20 wins if they finish on a strong note.
OU’s best chance to do that is to probably win their final six home games and steal two road games. So 20 wins is doable and probably gets them in to the tournament.
Using last year’s field as a measuring stick, the tournament gave at-large bids to eight-seed Colorado (11 losses), 10-seed Stanford (12 losses), six-seed Baylor (11 losses), nine-seed Oklahoma State (12 losses), 10-seed BYU (11 losses), 11-seed Nebraska (12 losses), and 10-seed Arizona State (11 losses).
In essence, Oklahoma needs to win a majority of the rest of their games, and losing more than 10 games puts them right on the line.
OU could have a strong showing in the Big 12 tournament and earn the automatic bid. However, the Sooners might not get a get a first round bye like they did last year.
This season has been disappointing. I’ll say it. But it’s not for the reason you might think.
Yes, Oklahoma has lost games maybe they shouldn’t have, but this is still one of the most talented and well-balanced teams OU has had in a long time.
They have their flaws, but I firmly believe this is a Top 25 program at the moment, but they’re playing in the best conference in America.
It’s a shame all the players fell in to the right place for OU when the Big 12 started to get really good. While some of the players have had their fair share of off nights, Oklahoma is a team most of the country respects.
The Sooners played an incredibly difficult out-of-conference and they’ve been right there with every team outside of one road trip to West Virginia.
So, yes, the Sooners are in danger of not making the tournament. However, Oklahoma has plenty of opportunities to prove me and a lot of Sooner fans wrong.
It should be an interesting February, but don’t let the football season’s outcome make you think the world is falling down on Oklahoma athletics.
You should still support this basketball team. The Sooners return to action this Wednesday in Norman when they face the Texas Tech Red Raiders.