Oklahoma lands perfect SEC Tournament path as March Madness hopes surge

The Oklahoma Sooners need a statement run in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament this week to sneak into the NCAA Tournament again, and the bracket reveal when the regular season finished up should have been a shot of confidence for OU fans hopeful for March Madness.

The Sooners got the No. 11 seed after finishing SEC play at 7-11 and going 17-14 overall. OU jumped from the 12 spot with its thrilling 88-85 overtime win against Texas on Saturday in Austin.

Most 11 seeds and teams that endured an embarrassing nine-game losing streak in conference play should usually be counted out from any sort of run or NCAA Tournament consideration, but the Sooners are playing just as great of basketball as anyone right now entering the postseason on a four-game winning streak, and the way the bracket fell was yet another benefit to the surging Sooners at the perfect time.

SEC Men's Basketball Tournament bracket released for Sooners ahead of NCAA Tournament push

OU will get No. 14 South Carolina first as the last game Wednesday night, and the winner of that first-round clash has No. 6 Texas A&M waiting for them. Both of those potential matchups beat OU during the regular season, but it was during the Sooners' miserable nine-game losing streak when everything was going wrong and guard Dayton Forsythe was still dealing with an injury.

That loss to South Carolina on Jan. 20 felt like rock bottom for the Sooners as South Carolina was was considered the worst team in the SEC at the time. OU has turned things around since, though, and the Gamecocks have not while losing three of their last four games of the regular season. And that only victory was a close 64-61 win on Saturday over Ole Miss, which was seeded a spot below South Carolina at 15. The Gamecocks went 2-7 between February and March, while OU was 6-3 during that same span.

After South Carolina would be Texas A&M, which has two wins over the Sooners already this season. OU improved each outing against the Aggies, losing the first meeting 83-76 early on in that nine-game skid, then just barely falling 75-71 last month. Even when the Sooners were at their worst, though, the Aggies still couldn't put them away easily, and it's also incredibly difficult to beat a team of the same caliber three times in the same season.

The Sooners getting revenge in back-to-back games and extending their winning streak to six could actually be enough for an NCAA Tournament berth, but an upset of No. 3 seed Arkansas could put OU's name in Sharpie. The Razorbacks, though, are just as hot as OU while winning seven of their last nine. Those two losses include a double-overtime road deficit to Alabama and a blowout to top-seeded Florida.

OU is right in the thick of the madness, though, and with March here, things are actually in the Sooners' favor for the first time this year.

How to watch SEC Men's Basketball Tournament with full schedule and bracket

Wednesday

No. 9 Kentucky vs No. 16 LSU
11:30 a.m. CT on SEC Network

No. 12 Auburn vs No. 13 Mississippi State
25 minutes after Game 1 on SEC Network

No. 10 Texas vs No. 15 Ole Miss
6 p.m. CT on SEC Network

No. 11 Oklahoma vs No. 14 South Carolina
25 minutes after Game 3 on SEC Network (Watch using a free trial to fuboTV)

Thursday

No. 8 Missouri vs Winner of Kentucky / LSU
11:30 a.m. CT on SEC Network

No. 5 Tennessee vs Winner of Auburn / Mississippi State
25 minutes after Game 5 on SEC Network

No. 7 Georgia vs Winner of Texas / Ole Miss
6 p.m. CT on SEC Network

No. 6 Texas A&M vs Winner of Oklahoma / South Carolina
25 minutes after Game 7 (Watch using a free trial to fuboTV)

Friday

No. 1 Florida vs TBD
Noon CT on ESPN

No. 4 Vanderbilt vs TBD
25 minutes after Game 9 on ESPN

No. 2 Alabama vs TBD
6 p.m. CT on SEC Network

No. 3 Arkansas vs TBD
25 minutes after Game 11 on SEC Network

Saturday

Semifinal 1
Noon CT on ESPN

Semifinal 2
25 minutes after on ESPN

Sunday

SEC Championship Game
Noon CT on ESPN (watch using a free trial to fuboTV)