Oklahoma basketball: ESPN’s ‘Bracketology’ has OU as NCAA 4 seed
By Chip Rouse
It’s still very early in the process, but men’s Oklahoma basketball is sitting very pretty right now.
Earlier this week, OU moved into the Associated Press Top 25, something very few if any college basketball experts expected from this team after losing consensus All-American Trae Young off of last season’s teeter-tottering Sooners’ squad.
Ironically, Young’s departure after a one-and-done pass through at OU has helped the Sooners get better because it has forced them to play more together as a team and not rely on one player to carry the load. It also has helped to have a couple of graduate transfers join the team, bring with them valuable experience and leadership, along with four-year senior Christian James. who is leading the team in scoring this season.
All that has worked in the Sooners’ favor and helped get them off to an 11-1 start to the 2018-19 season after being projected to finish eighth in the Big 12 in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
There’s great danger, of course, in getting too excited at this early stage, recognizing that the difficult round-robin Big 12 schedule awaits and knowing that Oklahoma began last season going 12-1 before falling into a tailspin that left the Sooners with a 6-13 record the rest of the way and highly fortunate to make it into the NCAA Tournament.
The fact is, however, that this OU basketball team is playing very well through 12 games. They’re playing complementary basketball and with a great deal of confidence and they are playing especially tough defense.
ESPN’s “Bracketology” czar, Joe Lunardi, likes what he sees in the Sooners so far. If the season ended today, Lunardi has Oklahoma as a No. 4 seed.
Admittedly, a No. 4 seed seems a bit generous, but it clearly is not out of the question if Oklahoma is able to sustain its present level of play through what promises to be a highly competitive conference schedule, starting with No. 5 Kansas on Jan. 2.
Outside of Norman, Oklahoma, there wasn’t a lot of promise for Oklahoma basketball this season just a couple of months ago. But that’s why they play the games, and so far, and a dozen games in things are really looking up. Let’s hope the new year brings more of the same.