Maybe the Oklahoma Sooners are just right where they belong.
The OU men's basketball team is back on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament, according to Joe Lunardi in the latest ESPN Bracketology that was released Tuesday.
After weeks on bubble watch, the Sooners were briefly off of it as a No. 9 seed last week before losing to a pair of top-5 opponents. OU has dropped to 16-7 overall and 3-7 in SEC play.
Now, the Sooners are back as a 10 seed in the West Region and listed as the first team with one of the last four byes. OU is joined by two other SEC teams in Texas and Vanderbilt, as well as Nebraska.
Mid-tier teams like OU, Texas and Vanderbilt are starting to suffer the consequences of a loaded conference. However, it could also be argued that these teams' strength of schedule is why they're still getting a chance to prove themselves on the bubble.
There were 13 SEC teams included in Lunardi's latest projected field of 68, which leads all conferences. Those making the cut include No. 1 overall seed Auburn, No. 1 Tennessee, No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 2 Florida, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Missouri, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 10 Texas, No. 10 OU, No. 11 Vanderbilt and No. 11 Georgia.
Arkansas is also the first team out of the field, so the Razorbacks are likely an upset away from either giving the SEC 14 teams or popping the bubble of one of their fellow conference members.
In this new projected scenario, the Sooners would get No. 7 Clemson, which just upset then-No. 2 Duke on Saturday. It's a tough first task, but it is a better location, with the Sooners going to Wichita, Kansas, instead of Lexington, Kentucky, where they've been predicted to go.
If OU won, it'd get either No. 2 Texas A&M or No. 15 Norfolk State next. The Sooners have already lost to the Aggies twice this season.
Tennessee is the projected top seed in the West Region with fellow SEC member Ole Miss getting the fifth seed. There's not a single region without multiple SEC teams projected to be included.
On Wednesday, the Sooners will finally end a run of five straight ranked opponents with a trip to No. 21 Missouri. A blowout against Vanderbilt, which is no longer ranked, has been OU's only win during the vigorous stretch.
The Sooners will host LSU on Saturday. The Tigers and South Carolina are the only SEC teams not even on Lunardi's radar. A loss to LSU would surely pop OU's bubble, and a loss to Mizzou might, too.