To the disbelief of some, the Oklahoma Sooners still have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament.
The OU men's basketball team is the first team left out of the field 68, according to Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology on Friday. That's as much on the bubble as a team can be with only one regular-season game left against Texas on Saturday in Austin.
Lunardi considers 16 teams on the bubble right now including the last four byes, last four in, first four out and next four out. In that mix is four SEC teams: OU, Georgia, Arkansas and Texas. Lunardi predicts the SEC to send 12 teams dancing.
Before diving into each resume of the 16 teams, as a refresher, the NET rankings, which stand for the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings, were developed as another metric to measure how good a college basketball team really is. The NET rankings take in account strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, offensive and defensive efficiency, and quality of wins and losses.
And here's how quadrants are broken down based on NET rankings, plus where the game was played.
- Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
With all that, here's how the Sooners' NCAA Tournament resume compares to every other bubble team with one regular-season game and a conference tournament left for all of them.
Team | Overall Record | Quad 1 | Quad 2 | Quad 3 | Quad 4 | NET Ranking | Current Projection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oklahoma | 18-12 | 5-10 | 4-1 | 2-1 | 7-0 | 50 | first team out |
Utah State | 24-6 | 2-3 | 7-3 | 5-0 | 9-0 | 41 | last four bye |
Georgia | 19-11 | 4-10 | 4-1 | 3-0 | 8-0 | 32 | last four bye |
Ohio State | 17-13 | 6-10 | 3-3 | 2-0 | 6-0 | 35 | last four bye |
Arkansas | 18-12 | 5-9 | 2-3 | 4-0 | 7-0 | 39 | last four bye |
San Diego State | 20-8 | 3-5 | 5-2 | 3-1 | 8-0 | 51 | last four in |
Indiana | 18-12 | 4-12 | 4-0 | 6-0 | 4-0 | 55 | last four in |
Boise State | 22-8 | 2-5 | 4-1 | 5-2 | 10-0 | 43 | last four in |
Xavier | 20-10 | 1-9 | 7-1 | 5-0 | 7-0 | 47 | last team in |
North Carolina | 20-11 | 1-10 | 6-0 | 7-1 | 6-0 | 38 | first four out |
Texas | 17-13 | 5-9 | 3-4 | 2-0 | 7-0 | 40 | first four out |
Nebraska | 17-13 | 5-10 | 4-1 | 2-2 | 6-0 | 57 | first four out |
Colorado State | 12-9 | 0-5 | 6-2 | 4-2 | 11-0 | 56 | next four out |
Cincinnati | 17-13 | 1-11 | 9-2 | 1-0 | 6-0 | 45 | next four out |
SMU | 22-8 | 0-4 | 6-4 | 11-0 | 5-0 | 46 | next four out |
Wake Forest | 20-10 | 2-7 | 5-1 | 7-2 | 6-0 | 72 | next four out |
Worth noting
- Of the 16 listed teams, only Ohio State has more Quad 1 wins than OU. Fellow SEC members Arkansas and Texas, plus Nebraska from the Big Ten, also have five Quad 1 wins like OU. Ultimately, the Sooners' strength of schedule, and winning some big games like they did Wednesday night, is what has them still in this position.
- What could hurt OU that NET rankings don't account for is how bad some of those Quad 1 losses were. The selection committee, however, will consider the blowouts.
- OU ranks 11th out of the 16 teams here based on NET rankings. That's a tough spot when only eight will get in, not considering bid stealers.
- The Sooners' worst blemish is a home Quad 3 loss to LSU. Although that's still hurting OU, six other bubble teams also have at least one Quad 3 loss. Boise State, projected to get in over OU, has two such deficits.
- A win against Texas on Saturday would do a lot for the Sooners. First, it would knock Texas out of contention. It would also tied them with Ohio State for the most Quad 1 wins and send them up in the NET rankings. A loss, though, would pop OU's bubble for good this time.