The Oklahoma Sooners are no longer anywhere to be found on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Blowing out then-No. 24 Vanderbilt didn't boost the Sooners in the rankings this week, but it did benefit their NCAA Tournament resume. OU went 1-1 last week after losing to then-No. 13 Texas A&M before destroying Vanderbilt on Saturday.
After several weeks, Joe Lunardi no longer has OU as a team on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament in his lastest ESPN Bracketology that was released on Tuesday. Last week, OU was one of the last four teams to get a first-round bye as a 10 seed.
This week, the Sooners are the 9 seed in the midwest region, according to Lunardi's latest projections. OU would get No. 8 Saint Mary's first, then the winner of No. 1 Alabama and No. 16 Southern in Lexington, Kentucky.
Considering Alabama blew the Sooners away earlier this season, OU might actually be better off with the 10 seed it had last week. That would give the Sooners No. 7 Louisville, then the winner between No. 2 Purdue and No. 15 Bryant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Right now, Vanderbilt has that 10 seed in the midwest region after losing to OU last week. The Commodores are now also listed as one of Lunardi's last four byes, swapping spots with the Sooners.
Georgia, another SEC team, is also one of those last four byes.
The SEC leads all conferences with 13 teams predicted to make the field of 68. Arkansas, after upsetting Kentucky on Saturday, is on the bubble of getting in as one of the next four out.
SEC teams making the cut include No. 1 Auburn (the top overall seed), No. 1 Tennessee, No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 5 Missouri, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 9 Texas, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 11 Georgia.
That gives the SEC three of the currently projected No. 1 seeds, with Duke being the only other one.
The Sooners will take on the No. 1 overall seed Auburn at 8 p.m. CT Tuesday night on the road. OU will then host Tennessee on Saturday as part of a week that includes two top-5 opponents for the Sooners.