It’s never too early to start building a resume for the NCAA Tournament, especially considering how close the Oklahoma Sooners were to missing out last season.
The Sooners’ 75-74 win against Marquette on Friday in Chicago as part of The Bad Boy Mowers Series was their first Quadrant 1 win of the 2025-26 season. It was also their first win away from Norman.
Oklahoma men's basketball beats Marquette for Quad 1 win
Derrion Reid’s 3-pointer with 35 seconds left ultimately sealed the deal. Guard Nijel Pack led the Sooners with 24 points, while Reid put 15 and forward Tae Davis had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The win improved the Sooners to 5-2 early in the season, but every victory before was just a Quad 4 win at home over the likes of Saint Francis, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Oral Roberts and Alcorn. Both times before that the Sooners got a chance against a more quality opponent, they fell short.
The Sooners lost to Quad 1 foe Gonzaga 83-68 in the their second game of the season. The Zags have since rocketed to No. 8 in the NET Rankings and No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25, so it certainly wasn’t a deficit that will really hurt the Sooners come Selection Sunday. However, even one extra Quad 1 win could be the difference in seeding, or even getting in over someone else.
Nebraska, a Quad 2 opponent at a neutral site, beat the Sooners 105-99 in their only other matchup before Friday that was against a team better than a Quad 4 opponent.
The Sooners will still have plenty of opportunities ahead to bolster their resume, though. Based on the NET Rankings as of Friday, there are still 14 Quad 1 games left on OU’s schedule. The Sooners had seven Quad 1 wins last season as a tournament team.
The next Quad 1 matchup for the Sooners will come immediately on the road against Wake Forest on Tuesday. After that, it’s back-to-back Quad 2 games at neutral sites against Arizona State and Oklahoma State. However, both of those teams are surging so could soon be elevated as Quad 1 games at neutral sites.
The Sooners then get a break before five Quad 1 matchups in a row to tip off SEC play.
Although it seems early to start talking about NCAA Tournament resumes, the Sooners’ early nonconference wins last season ended up being a major difference, so even in November, it’s worth caring about March.