The NCAA Tournament bubble has become home for the 2024-25 Oklahoma men's basketball team.
Less than a week after their bubble was popped, Joe Lunardi again has the Sooners back on the NCAA Tournament bubble in his latest ESPN Bracketology on Tuesday. OU has spent nearly its entire conference schedule on the bubble.
OU is one of the last four teams in, according to Lunardi. The Sooners would play Nebraska in a first-round game with the Midwest Region's 11th seed and second-round matchup with No. 6 Marquette on the line.
Arkansas and Wake Forest join OU and Nebraska as the last four teams in the 68-team field.
OU was the first team out in Lunardi's previous bracketology on Friday. North Carolina now has that spot.
The Sooners got back in the projected tournament field after upsetting then-No. 21 Mississippi State 93-87 on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. The win halted a five-game losing streak for OU.
During that losing streak, most experts, including Lunardi, nixed OU from NCAA Tournament contention after No. 2 Florida blew out the Sooners 85-63 to put the streak at five.
On Monday, Jerry Palmer of CBS Sports put OU as the 11 seed in the West Region with a second-round matchup against No. 6 Kansas.
Four of OU's five losses during the losing streak were to ranked opponents and considered Quadrant 1 games, which is what has saved the Sooners so far despite a 4-10 SEC record and 17-10 overall record.
A loaded SEC has beaten the Sooners down while also helping drag them into the postseason. Lunardi predicts 13 SEC teams to go dancing, the most among all conferences. The Big Ten is second with 10.
SEC teams in the projected field include top overall seed Auburn, No. 1 Florida, No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 5 Missouri, No. 7 Mississippi State, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Arkansas, No. 11 Texas and No. 11 Oklahoma.
All four opponents left on the Sooners' remaining regular-season schedule are projected to compete in March Madness. The remaining slate features Kentucky, Ole Miss, Missouri and Texas.
The Sooners will host No. 17 Kentucky at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday.