Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma basketball headed to NCAA Tournament as No. 8 seed

By Chip Rouse

Feb 27, 2021; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger coaches his team against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during a time out in the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma State won 94-90. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2021; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger coaches his team against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during a time out in the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma State won 94-90. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /
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It could have and perhaps should have been better, but the men’s Oklahoma basketball team is headed to Indianapolis and the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed in the West Region

Former NFL head coach said “You are what your record says you are,” and the Sooners’ 15-10 record and late-season slide has pushed them down to the eight line, where they will match up with No. 9 Missouri, an old familiar foe out of the Big 12. This will be a Saturday game, with the time and place to be determined.

The good news with this selection is that OU (15-10, 9-8) is still in the upper half of the bracket, but the sad news is that by losing five of their final six games, the Sooners slipped from a potential No. 3 or 4 seed all the way down to a No. 8 seed, and the last of seven Big 12 teams to make it into this year’s NCAA Basketball Championship.

Just three short weeks ago, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports was projecting Oklahoma as high as a No. 2 seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s highest projection for the Sooners was a No. 3 seed.

Unfortunately, as the No. 8 seed, should the Sooners make it past Missouri, they would draw the No, 1 seed in the region, which happens to be the No. 1 overall seed in the field of 68, the undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga has been the top-ranked team all season.

This will be Oklahoma’s seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in Lon Kruger’s 10 seasons as the Sooners’ head coach. The Sooners have missed the Big Dance just twice in the Kruger era. OU would have made it into last year’s tournament, probably no higher, however, than an eight or nine seed, but the 2020 NCAA Tournament was cancelled before it even began because of the nationwide COVID-19 outbreak.

This will be the Sooners’ 33rd overall appearance in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. They have appeared in five Final Fours, most recently in 2016,  and were national runners-up in 1947 and 1988.

Missouri, Oklahoma’s NCAA opening-game opponent, finished with a regular-season record of 16-9 and 8-8 in the Southeastern Conference. The Sooners and Tigers have played each other 211 times previously with Oklahoma leading the all-time series 114-97.

These two teams met in the NCAA Tournament West Region finals in 2002, with No. 2 Oklahoma defeating No. 12 Missouri 81-75. The Sooners lost to Indiana in the national semifinals that season.

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