Basketball sure has all of a sudden become important in this football state.
Even with both major men's college basketball programs struggling to even make the NCAA Tournament, the state of Oklahoma has still managed to take center stage during March Madness this year, which OU women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk pointed out on Sunday after the Sooners were announced as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Jennie Baranczyk emphasizes importance of Oklahoma hosting NCAA Tournament and NIT games
"You kinda also forget how important it is to host and how much you really want to put Oklahoma, again, on a map of showing people that basketball matters," Baranczyk said. "We're hosting the men's regional (in Oklahoma City), for us to be able to host part of women's basketball, to have March Madness in Oklahoma is pretty incredible, so really excited about that."
For the second year in a row, OU will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Lloyd Noble Center as a top-4 seed. The Sooners will be joined by No. 5 Michigan State, No. 12 Colorado State and No. 13 Idaho in the Norman Region, which is scheduled to begin on Friday.
Meanwhile, down the road in Oklahoma City, Paycom Center will house first- and second-round games of the men's tournament, with the Big 12 serving as the designated host. First-round matchups this week in OKC include No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Troy, No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 McNeese, No. 2 Houston vs. No. 15 Idaho and No. 7 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Texas A&M.
Even outside of the Big Dance and beyond the 405, Tulsa earned a No. 1 seed in the NIT and will get to host games in that postseason tournament. Oklahoma State was included in Tulsa's region after getting to host a first-round matchup. OU also could have been an NIT host as a top seed after just barely missing the NCAA Tournament, but denied an invitation.
College football will always be king in the state of Oklahoma, but with the Oklahoma City Thunder ruling the NBA and the state's cities continuing to find ways to lure in college basketball fans, the sport is continuing to gain importance in the Sooner State, which can only benefit the college basketball programs needing more financial support and fans in the stands.