The Oklahoma Sooners still at least have a waiting invitation to the Big Dance in March.
Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology still has the Sooners as a projected 10th seed at the NCAA Tournament and one of the last four teams to get a first-round bye. It's essentially the same position OU was in last week before beating Arkansas 65-62 on Saturday.
This means OU is still on the bubble and even one slip up could be costly. That's a daunting position to be, especially when the Sooners have five straight ranked opponents ahead on their schedule, starting with No. 13 Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
The Sooners' tough upcoming stretch is thanks to a stacked SEC that Lunardi predicts to have 13 teams make the NCAA Tournament. That's more than any other conference.
That projected total is up one compared to last week with Texas now being one of the last four teams in, according Lunardi. Georgia's stock has dropped, though, joining OU as a last four bye.
Other SEC teams projected to make the field of 68 include No. 1 Auburn, No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 6 Missouri, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Georgia and No. 12 Texas.
Alabama is the top seed in the same Midwest Region that OU is projected to land in. But the Sooners wouldn't have to worry about meeting Bama until the Elite Eight.
In this scenario, the Sooners would head to Cleveland, Ohio, to play No. 7 UCLA. The winner of that would get the winner of No. 2 Marquette and No. 15 UNC Asheville.