The Oklahoma men's basketball team is back on the outside of the projected NCAA Tournament field.
With one week left in the regular season and little time to impress, the Sooners were the first team out of the field of 68 in Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology that was released Tuesday.
Last week, OU was one of the last four teams in after upsetting then-No. 21 Mississippi State the Saturday before. The Sooners lost both games this past week, though, to Ole Miss and then-No. 17 Kentucky, dropping their overall record to 17-12 and conference count to 4-12.
The Sooners were atop a list that also included Xavier, North Carolina and Texas as the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament but still on the bubble this week. That dramatically increases the stakes for the Red River Rivalry with OU and Texas playing on Saturday in Austin for both team's regular-season finale.
In his fourth season at the helm, Porter Moser has never led the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament or beat OU's most hated rival Texas, so he could possibly accomplish both with one win. Or lose the game and his job before March Madness even gets started.
With OU and Texas on the outside looking in, the SEC is projected to have 12 teams go dancing, more than any other conference. That includes fellow bubble teams Arkansas and Georgia predicted to just barely get in right now.
SEC teams in the current field of 68 includes top overall seed Auburn, No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Florida, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Missouri, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Georgia and No. 11 Arkansas.
The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament will tip off March 12 with major implications for not only bubble teams in the conference, but the entire field of 68 and those fighting to get in.
First, though, the Sooners and the rest of the SEC have one more week of the regular season left to shake things out. OU will host No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday before its trip to Texas. The Sooners have already lost to both teams this earlier this season.