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Oklahoma basketball will play at Auburn in 2022 Big 12/SEC Challenge

By Chip Rouse

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 22: Elijah Harkless #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners grabs a rebound against Jalen Suggs #1 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 22, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 22: Elijah Harkless #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners grabs a rebound against Jalen Suggs #1 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 22, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Auburn will be the Oklahoma basketball opponent in the 2022 Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Related Story. New OU coach Porter Moser adds final piece to 2021-22 roster. light

The new-look Sooners will travel to Auburn on Jan. 29 for the annual showdown between teams from the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference.

This will be just the fourth meeting in basketball between the Sooners and Tigers and the first since the 2016-17 season, when Auburn won 74-70 in the Birthday of Basketball game played in Uncasville, Connecticut. Oklahoma leads the all-time series 2-1.

The two schools also played in the second round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament, with OU winning 107-87. Oklahoma advanced to the Final Four that year and lost to Kansas in the national championship game. The first meeting between Oklahoma and Auburn in men’s basketball was in 1978-79 in the Big Sun Classic in St. Petersburg, Florida. OU prevailed in that initial meeting, 78-70.

This is the ninth year for the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Big 12 has a 4-2 record in the annual 10-game series, and in two of the years the two conferences split the series, winning five games each. Oklahoma’s record in the Challenge is 6-2, with wins over Alabama last season, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, LSU, Missouri and Texas A&M. The six wins are tied for the second most by any Big 12 school .

Oklahoma’s two losses in the Big 12/SEC Challenge were at home to Florida and on the road at Alabama. The Sooners are 1-1 in true road games in the series. winning at LSU but losing at Alabama.

The Sooners finished the 2020-21 season with a 16-11 record and 9-8 in the Big 12. OU will begin next season with a new head coach, Porter Moser, as well as six new players picked up through the transfer portal and three incoming freshmen recruits. Only three players (guards Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harlkess and forward Jalen Hill) who logged substantive minutes off of last season’s roster return for the coming season.

Oklahoma will also play a challenge series next season with Big East opponent Butler. That game will be at Lloyd Noble Center on Dec. 7.

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