With Transfer Portal chaos starting to settle down throughout college basketball and rosters being established, ESPN's Joe Lunardi this week already released his first NCAA Tournament projection for next season, and if it's even close to being accurate, then it foreshadows another agonizing season for Oklahoma fans, but likely the last for head coach Porter Moser.
Lunardi listed the Sooners as the second team left out of the 68-team field in his way-too-early projections for what's become a trend in Oklahoma in the five years under Moser. The bracket had a whopping 12 teams from the SEC, yet none of them were still the Sooners, who were joined by Oregon, Providence and Xavier as the first four teams out.
The Sooners' Porter Moser era would be over if this trend continued
The Sooners were just the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament this past season before ultimately finishing their season in The College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas. It was the third time in five seasons under Moser that OU was one of the first four teams left out and second time the Sooners were the very first team on the outside looking in.
Even the one time the Sooners did make the Big Dance under Moser in 2025, they still spent nearly the entire season on the bubble and just barely snuck in thanks to a late-season winning streak. OU also had a late surge this year to pop up on the bubble, but it was too little, too late by then after enduring a nine-game losing streak in January.
Read more: Oklahoma's final collapse proved nothing ever changed under Porter Moser
If Lunardi's prediction is just remotely close and the Sooners just barely get in after sitting on the bubble, it should be Moser's final season leading the program. It's been an agonizing five seasons as fans either worry about being in the NCAA Tournament or not, or just stop caring altogether. It would be even more frustrating after Moser was given more resources and fans still had to suffer the same bubble torture for the sixth year.
Another season of Moser, even with more resources, had fans concerned the Sooners settled with mediocracy. Another season of just barely getting by or flat out not being good enough would confirm that.
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