Oklahoma's NCAA Tournament chances dip below 50%

ESPN dropped the Sooners' March Madness chances even more after two more losses.
Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Sooner Nation has had doubts for a while, but the Oklahoma men's basketball team's chances at making the NCAA Tournament continue to plummet.

The Sooners lost two more heartbreakers last week, dropping their overall record to 17-12 and SEC mark to 4-12. First, OU nearly upset No. 17 Kentucky on Wednesday at Lloyd Noble Center, but former Sooner Otega Oweh powered the Wildcats to an 83-82 win.

OU was in another nail-biter on Saturday with Ole Miss before eventually falling 87-84 thanks to Oklahoma native Sean Pedulla's eventual game-winning 3-pointer with 18 seconds left.

According to ESPN, the two losses dropped the Sooners' odds of making the NCAA Tournament from 60% to a season-low 42%.

ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi has yet to release his latest full projections, which usually come out Tuesday, but Lunardi posted on Sunday that he still has OU as one of his last four teams to get into the NCAA Tournament.

The Sooners have two more chances to improve their stock before March Madness tips off with the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament on March 12-16.

OU will host No. 14 Missouri on Wednesday night before traveling to Austin to play Texas on Saturday for both teams' regular-season finales. Both Mizzou and Texas have already beaten OU earlier this season.

If the Sooners fail to notch a win this week, then their only chance to go dancing will be to win the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, which will be the toughest conference tournament in the country with 13 SEC teams currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament.

OU has never made the NCAA Tournament in its fourth season under coach Porter Moser, so as the Sooners' March Madness odds dwindle, so do the chances of Moser remaining OU's men's basketball coach.

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