If Vegas really does know best, then there's no need wasting much ink (or money) on the Oklahoma Sooners to get far in your March Madness bracket.
The Sooners were dealt a tough hand as the 9-seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. First, they get the 8-seed UConn Huskies, who have won the last two national titles. This season, the Huskies have been less potent at 23-10, but still have head coach Dan Hurley leading the way.
FanDuel lists UConn as a 4.5-point favorite to beat OU, which is tied for the second-closest margin among first-round matchups in the West Region. That's expected for the 8-9 pairing, though.
During the month of March, OU is 3-2 and lost those two games by a combined four points, less than the 4.5-point spread against UConn. Most are hesitant to pencil in the Sooners to the second round, but so far it's a solid bet for OU to be within 4.5 points no matter who it's playing.
If the Sooners pull off the minor upset over UConn, they will then likely get the 1-seed Florida Gators. At +340, the Gators have the second-best chances of winning it all behind only Duke (+290), according to FanDuel.
That tough early road took a toll on OU's chances of making a run in its first trip to the NCAA Tournament under Porter Moser, who has never been beat during the first week in two previous appearances with Loyola Chicago.
Just to even get out of the West Region and to the Final Four, the Sooners have +9000 odds. That's the worst among all Power Four programs in the region, even though OU is seeded higher than Arkansas (+6000) and beat the Razorbacks this season. Arkansas, the 10 seed, has a lot easier path, though, with 7-seed Kansas in the first round. KU is a 4.5-point favorite in that first-round game.
Among all Power Four teams in the field of 68, only fellow SEC teams Georgia (+80000) and Texas (+100000) have worse odds than the Sooners at +75000 to win the national championship.
There's a reason those odds are so monstrous, though. The Sooners barely got in thanks to a late run in March and had an abysmal 6-12 conference record. OU has also looked helpless at times this season against the caliber of teams that are in the NCAA Tournament. That includes an 85-63 blowout loss to Florida in February.
Even for the faithful of Sooner Nation, there are better teams than OU to put your money on when it comes to making a run in the NCAA Tournament.