Porter Moser claimed he's not superstitious, yet he knew he had to dress for the occasion -- it would either be a celebration worth his best attire or the funeral and last goodbye for his time as Oklahoma's men's basketball coach.
Moser walked out on the court Saturday night at the Moody Center trimmed in a navy checkered blazer, black pants and a crimson tie. It was only the third time he had coached in a suit all season and he was 2-0 in the getup so far.
The Sooners beat Texas 76-72 in Austin for back-to-back wins and to keep their NCAA Tournament chances alive while killing their rival's. Moser had accomplished more in 40 minutes of action than he had in four seasons as OU's head coach. And those 40 minutes might have even earned him a fifth year.
Moser had never beaten the Longhorns. He was 0-7 against his program's most-hated rival. Moser has also never led the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament, but has gotten, oh, so close.
A coach at the University of Oklahoma -- in almost every sport -- is judged by those two tasks: beat Texas and make the postseason. It should be in every OU coach's job description: beat Texas and make the postseason.
Beating Texas and getting to the NCAA Tournament are not goals, they are expectations.
It was once a wonder if Moser would even finish this season with his job. After a 13-0 start, OU had begun SEC play on a four-game losing streak that was punctuated with a 77-73 loss to Texas at Lloyd Noble Center. The outlook for a berth into the NCAA Tournament was grim at that point.
Moser was not meeting those expectations.
Whether too little, too late or not, Moser has now finally checked off the first objective. And with that, he can move on to the next.
ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi believes that if the winner of the Red River Rivalry wins just one game at the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, then it should be in the field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament. Moser's team got the 14 seed and will play 11 seed Georgia in the first round on Wednesday night.
The Sooners haven't won three consecutive games since the calendar flipped to 2025 and SEC play tipped off. But Moser had also never beaten Texas before Saturday.
According to crimson expectations, Moser had accomplished nothing as OU's basketball coach, but within a week, by Selection Sunday, Porter Moser could accomplish everything.