Oklahoma's last impression of the season to the NCAA Tournament selection committee was not its best before Selection Sunday next week.
The Sooners lost to LSU 112-78 on Friday to be eliminated from the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament in the quarterfinal, and the blowout loss immediately dropped OU down a peg for its projected seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN punishes Sooners in NCAA Tournament seeding
With conference tournaments still unfolding, ESPN's women's bracket expert Charlie Creme on Friday night updated his latest Bracketology with the Sooners dropping from a No. 3 seed to No. 4 with no more time to prove they deserve to be higher.
Creme's latest projections still fortunately have OU hosting NCAA Tournament games at Lloyd Noble Center as a top-4 seed. The Sooners would host No. 5 Michigan State, No. 12 Rice and No. 13 Green Bay with how things currently stand. OU would also get a favorable trip to Fort Worth if it returns to the Sweet 16. However, also like last year, the Sooners would play a top-seeded UConn in the Sweet 16.
The No. 5 seeds below the Sooners and able to jump them include Michigan State, North Carolina, Ole Miss and West Virginia. UNC, West Virginia and Ole Miss all made it to Saturday of their respective conference tournaments to keep padding their resumes. Ole Miss also already has a head-to-head win over OU, so the Rebels could end getting the edge over the Sooners, especially with a win over Texas on Saturday night.
At this point, OU will likely only drop if there's anymore movement for it. The Sooners cannot afford to fall another spot, though. Top-4 seeds get to host games in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament on their campus, so dropping to a 5-seed would take away home-court advantage from the Sooners, who desperately need it with such an inexperienced roster. But now, everything is out of OU's control until Selection Sunday.