Oklahoma basketball: Who would OU men play in Big 12 Tourney if season ended today?
By Chip Rouse
At this time every season in college basketball, every game takes on a little extra importance. Wins and losses mean more because teams are jockeying for postseason position, and for the men's Oklahoma basketball team, the next two weeks couldn't be more critical, or difficult.
The Big 12 Tournament is still a few weeks away, but with the chaos that exists this season in the most competitive conference in college basketball, it would be a fool's errand to project how things will shake out over the next five games and who will be left standing where when the regular season comes to a close on March 9.
The Sooners (18-8, 6-7) have five tough games remaining (two at home and three on the road). But if the regular season ended today, OU's conference record would earn them the 9-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and they would be matched up against No. 8 Texas, who they end the regular season with in Austin on March 9.
A second-round game with chief rival Texas would be a difficult matchup for the Sooners, not only because of the fierce rivalry but because Oklahoma has lost six straight games to the Longhorns (not counting the March 9 game), including a 75-60 defeat at home on Jan. 23 this season. The other problem with being an 8 or 9 seed is that the reward for winning that game is a likely matchup with the No. 1 seed in the next round.
All Big 12 Tournament games will be played at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The winner of the five-day championship tournament will earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship which will begin Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19 and 20 for the four play-in games. Action will continue on Thursday and Friday that week at 16 regional sites.
Here is what the conference tournament bracket would look like if the regular season had ended with games through Wednesday this week:
Tuesday, March 12 -- First Round
Game 1: No. 12 UCF vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State
Game 2: No. 14 West Virginia vs. No. 11 Kansas State
Wednesday, March 13 -- Second Round
Game 3: No. 5 Kansas vs. Game 1 winner (UCF/Ok State)
Game 4: No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Oklahoma
Game 5: No. 7 TCU vs. No. 10 Cincinnati
Game 6: No. 6 BYU vs. Game 2 winner (West Virginia/K-State)
Thursday, March 14 -- Quarterfinal Round
Game 7: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 3 winner (Kansas or UCF/Ok State)
Game 8: No. 1 Houston vs. Game 4 winner (Texas/Oklahoma)
Game 9: No. 2 Iowa State vs. Game 5 winner (TCU/Cincinnati)
Game 10: No. 3 Baylor vs. Game 6 winner (BYU or West Virginia/K-State)
Friday, March 15 -- Semifinal Round
Game 11: Game 7 winner ( Texas Tech or Kansas or UCF/Ok State) vs. Game 8 winner (Houston or Texas/Oklahoma)
Game 12: Game 9 winner (Iowa State or TCU/Cincinnati) vs. Game 10 winner (Baylor or BYU or West Virginia/K-State)
Saturday, March 16 -- Championship Game
Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner