Stock in the Oklahoma men's basketball team keeps crashing down.
The Sooners lost to rival Texas 77-73 on Wednesday night for their fourth loss in a row. There was a time to sell high on the Sooners after they finished their nonconference schedule undefeated and started the season 13-0.
Since, OU is 0-4 in SEC play with losses to then-No. 5 Alabama, then-No. 10 Texas A&M, Gerorgia and the Longhorns. Texas was OU's first Quadrant 2 loss, with the others all being Quadrant 1, so it took the biggest toll on the Sooners' NCAA Tournament chances that continue to dwindle.
The Sooners slid down six spots in the NET rankings immediately after the loss, then three more slots after Thursday's games. As of Friday, OU is No. 56 in the NET rankings, which are updated daily, after starting the week at No. 47.
That No. 47 ranking already had the Sooners right on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. The NET rankings set its cutoff to make the NCAA Tournament at No. 46, one spot above the Sooners on Monday.
Joe Lunardi had OU as a 9 seed in his latest ESPN Bracketology on Monday. Those projections had 11 SEC teams making the field of 68. At that time, though, Texas was one of the next four out before its win over OU.
If 11 SEC teams do indeed make the NCAA Tournament come March (and that number will more than likely decrease), that would leave five members out. Right now, the Sooners certainly deserve to be one of those five left behind.
OU is one of three SEC programs left without a conference win, joining South Carolina and Arkansas. The Sooners are ranked above only LSU and South Carolina in the latest NET rankings.
To OU's credit, it doesn't have a bad loss yet in the selection committee's eyes. All four of the teams that have beaten OU so far are ranked in the top 35 of the latest NET rankings and will all likely be predicted to make the NCAA Tournament when projections are updated next week.
The Sooners will host South Carolina on Saturday, so one of them will get their first SEC win then. That was also the case when Texas visited Norman at 0-3 in conference play.
OU will then travel to Arkansas the next Saturday, giving the Sooners both of the other two winless SEC teams in back-to-back games. That seems like a good thing, but there's really no winning situation for the Sooners there, even with a pair of wins.
Beating two bottom-dwelling SEC teams won't jolt the Sooners stock again and send them back up the NET rankings or any rankings. A loss to either, though, could be detrimental.
At best, a pair of wins gets the Sooners back on track before a schedule that still includes 10 Quadrant 1 games and plenty of opportunity to earn an invitation to go dancing.