Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma basketball: OU gaining favor despite losing league record

By Chip Rouse

AMES, IA - FEBRUARY 25: Michael Jacobson #12 of the Iowa State Cyclones battles for the ball with Brady Manek #35 of the Oklahoma Sooners, left, and Miles Reynolds #3 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 25, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - FEBRUARY 25: Michael Jacobson #12 of the Iowa State Cyclones battles for the ball with Brady Manek #35 of the Oklahoma Sooners, left, and Miles Reynolds #3 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half of play at Hilton Coliseum on February 25, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

No one outside of Norman, Oklahoma, had particularly high hopes prior to the start of the season that the Oklahoma basketball Sooners would make the NCAA Tournament.

The Big 12 coaches projected the Sooners to finish eighth in the 10-team Big 12 in their annual preseason poll, and Oklahoma was no where to be found in those major college basketball preview publications that were so bold as to plot out the 64 teams likely to fill out the brackets in the 2019 tournament field.

But then the Sooners, following a script similar to last season, but without one-and-done All-American Trae Young firing in rainbow threes from near half court, raced out to an 11-1 record through the nonconference portion of their schedule.

According to the new NCAA NET rankings, the new evaluation tool (and what the acronym stands for) designed to replace the outdated and oft-criticized RPI assessment model, those early-season games help make up the 13th most difficult schedule in the country.

Oklahoma Sooners Basketball
Oklahoma Sooners Basketball /

Oklahoma Sooners Basketball

Oklahoma began the Big 12 campaign going 2-2, but since then the Sooners have won just four of 12 conference games, including a miserable 2-5 run in the month of February. The best OU can do this season in the Big 12 is an 8-10 record, which would match its record from last season.

Unless the Sooners are able to steal a win over Kansas in their home finale on Tuesday, however, chances are Oklahoma will end the regular season with an 18-13 record overall and 6-12 in the highly competitive Big 12.

While Oklahoma’s chances of making a sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight seasons looked extremely dour a couple of weeks ago, wins over TCU and West Virginia have seemingly breathed life back into the Sooners’ postseason aspirations.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s lastest projection of the NCAA Tournament field has Oklahoma on the 10 line, despite its unimpressive conference record, which sits well below .500.

That’s up from just a couple of weeks ago when he had the Sooners “on the bubble” as one of the last four teams likely to make it into the tournament. Not only that, but as one of the last four teams to get into the tournament field, the Sooners would have to play an extra game on Tuesday or Wednesday of tournament week order to earn their way into the official opening round and the final 64-team field.

For now, with two regular-season games remaining, most college basketball experts have Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament. But for that to officially happen, the Sooners are probably going to have to break precedent.

Bracket Matrix likes the Sooners postseason chances even more than Lunardi, projecting them as the third seed on the nine line.

The issue is, no Big 12 team has ever received an invite to the NCAA Tournament with a conference record worse than 8-10.

The reason Oklahoma has a good chance of establishing a new precedent is because of its overall record (18-11). The NCAA Tournament selection committee is going to place higher emphasis on a team’s overall body of work and less on its record in conference games only.

We’ve already stated the Oklahoma schedule is rated as the 13th hardest in NCAA Division I college basketball this season. According to an analysis reported by Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoma City Oklahoman, the Sooners are the only team in the country that has not played a team all season ranked below 175th in the NCAA NET rankings.

Oklahoma is 3-9 in Quadrant 1games (games at home against teams ranked 1 through 30, 1-50 on a neutral court or 1-75 in a true road game). The Sooners are 7-2 in Quadrant 2 games (home 31-75, neutral 51-100, away 76-135) and 7-0 against Quadrant 3 teams (home 76-160, neutral 101-200, away 136-240).

OU’s 12-1 nonconference record includes wins over No. 22 Wofford, Florida and Creighton.

Much will depend on how the Sooners do in their remaining two games. They may also have to win at least one game in the Big 12 Tournament to feel more secure come Selection Sunday on March 17.

For the present time, however, Oklahoma appears to be in, unless this week they play themselves out of a postseason spot in the Big Dance version of March Madness.

Home/OU Basketball