Oklahoma basketball: If only OU could play just on Saturdays
By Chip Rouse
Saturday games is a long-standing tradition in college football. This season at least, the Oklahoma basketball team wouldn’t mind playing all it games on Saturday.
The Sooners have played on eight Saturdays so far this season and have won seven of those games. They have two more regular-season games to be played on Saturday, including this weekend at Iowa State. They also have their home finale on Saturday, Feb. 27 in a Bedlam showdown with Oklahoma State.
By contrast, Oklahoma is just 5-4 in midweek games this season.
As much as the Sooners like playing on Saturday this season, they like playing at home on Saturday even better. Oklahoma has played at home on Saturday six times this season and has come out on the winning end in all six.
The Sooners are 4-1 against Big 12 teams on Saturday in 2020-21 and 4-1 on Saturday against teams ranked in the top 15. Before this coming weekend, OU has played on the road on Saturday just twice, splitting the two games (losing at Kansas and winning at West Virginia).
Saturday was not the panacea for Sooner basketball last season as it has been this year. Oklahoma was 9-4 on Saturdays a year ago, 6-3 against Big 12 teams and 5-2 in Saturday games at Lloyd Noble Center.
In Oklahoma’s Final Four season with Buddy Hield in 2015-16, the Sooners were 9-3 in regular-season games on Saturday and 5-1 when playing at home on Saturday.
In Trae Young’s one and only season at Oklahoma, in 2017-18, the Sooners played 10 games on Saturday. That OU team was better in midweek games that season, going 10-6, but was just 4-6 on Saturday. The Sooners played just three home games on Saturday that season, but prevailed in two of the three.
Let’s hope OU’s Saturday good fortune carries over into the postseason, because that will mean they are winning and advancing, which is the best you can ask for in this unprecedented, COVID-altered college basketball season.