Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Sooner Basketball Still a No. 1 Seed, Bracketologist Joe Lunardi Says

By Chip Rouse

Jan 30, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Isaiah Cousins (11) hugs head coach Lon Kruger during the second half of a game against the LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Oklahoma defeated LSU 77-75. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Isaiah Cousins (11) hugs head coach Lon Kruger during the second half of a game against the LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Oklahoma defeated LSU 77-75. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Oklahoma may have surrendered its top ranking in the national polls this week, but Sooner basketball is still on Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi’s top line.

Dec 7, 2015; Honolulu, HI, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) makes a three point shot over Villanova Wildcats forward Darryl Reynolds (45) during the first half at Bloch Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2015; Honolulu, HI, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) makes a three point shot over Villanova Wildcats forward Darryl Reynolds (45) during the first half at Bloch Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-USA TODAY Sports /

The Sooners (19-3, 7-3) suffered through their worst performance of the season, shooting-wise, and fell to unranked Kansas State by 11 points on Saturday. The Wildcats are far from elite status as far as the Big 12 is concerned, but they have been giant killers against Oklahoma when playing at home. OU has lost in four consecutive trips to Manhattan, and gutting through the game with at least 12 fewer points than they usually produce with the three-ball ultimately proved to be the difference.

The Kansas State defense has to be given some of the credit for Oklahoma’s poor shooting game from the perimeter, but the fact remains that the shots the Sooners launched from the perimeter – 24 of them in total – just weren’t falling. OU ended the contest hitting 6 of 24, or 25 percent, 20 points off its nation-best three-point percentage.

The USA Today Coaches Poll dropped Oklahoma one spot, to No. 3, in its weekly rankings, with new No. 1 Villanova and Maryland vaulting ahead of the Sooners. Interestingly, Oklahoma owns a 23-point victory over new No. 1 Villanova this season. And that could be a big reason why the Sooners remain in the top four.

On a weekend when both No. 1 and No. 2 (Oklahoma and North Carolina) lost ball games on the road, the Sooners actually should feel somewhat fortunate to lose just one position in the USA Today weekly rankings. North Carolina lost on the road to a team with a better overall record than Kansas State, but the Tar Heels dropped all the way down to No. 7, from No. 1 last week, in the coaches’ poll. Notre Dame is actually No. 26 in the coaches’ poll this week.

ESPN college basketball prognosticator extraordinaire Joe Lunardi still believes in Oklahoma, despite the poor showing at K-State over the weekend, and continues to have OU on the one line in his latest “Bracketology” report (for the week of Feb. 8). And not just as one of the projected top-four seeds in this season’s NCAA Tournament, but remaining the No. 1 overall seed.

What is Lunardi’s rationale for keeping the Sooners at No. 1?

"“Because someone has to be,” he writes. “And because the Sooners still possess, at worst, the second-best resume in the country.”"

Lunardi went on to say the only team with a better resume – on paper, at least – is Villanova, and he says he has a hard time seeing the committee not breaking a possible tie between the two in favor of Oklahoma, given that the Sooners buried Villanova by more than 20 points earlier this season on a neutral floor. That has to count for something, he says.

Home/OU Basketball