Like in their oh-so-close, one-point loss in the in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals, the men’s Oklahoma basketball team came close to a spot in the coveted NCAA Tournament, but ultimately were left with no cigar.
When the 68-team 2022 NCAA Men’s Tournament field was revealed on Sunday, the Sooners, as most college basketball experts had projected, were on the outside looking in. It will be the first time in the last three years the NCAA Tournament has been held that Oklahoma has missed out on the Big Dance.
The Sooners are 18-15 on the year after beginning the season 12-3. The brutally tough Big 12, ranked as the strongest basketball conference in the country this season, took its toll on OU, despite recording victories over four of the six conference teams that made this year’s NCAA Tournament, including No. 1-seeded Baylor.
Oklahoma finished with a 7-11 Big 12 record and in eighth place in the conference standings.
No matter what happens, OU hoops has earned all of our respect.
— The REF (@KREFsports) March 12, 2022
Bright days are ahead for Porter Moser and Sooner hoops. pic.twitter.com/lypuITEF4y
Despite boasting five Associated Press Top 15 wins, tied for the most in the country, and an NCAA NET ranking of 40, higher than three of the last four teams to make this year’s NCAA Tournament, the Sooners’ 15 losses and four games under .500 conference record appeared to be the major factors in denying Oklahoma a spot in the tournament.
Oklahoma was the second highest team to miss the tournament cut. The first-four-out consisted of Dayton, OU, SMU and Texas A&M.
Head coach Porter Moser, in his first season at Oklahoma after replacing the retired Lon Kruger, believes the Sooners have done enough to show they are an NCAA Tournament-worthy team.
This is what Moser had to say about all of this in addressing reporters following his team’s heartbreaking loss to Texas Tech Friday night:
"“I’ve advanced in the NCAA Tournament (Moser led Loyola Chicago to a Final Four appearance in 2018). I know what an NCAA Tournament team looks like…This has the DNA of an NCAA Tournament team.”"
As one of the first four teams left out of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Tournament, Oklahoma is almost assured to receive a top seed in the National Invitation Tournament and home games at Lloyd Noble Center (as long as they are the higher seeded team) all the way to the semifinal and championship rounds, which will be at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The 32 NIT men’s teams and brackets will be revealed on ESPNU at 9 p.m. ET Sunday night.