Once the darling of the college basketball season, the Oklahoma Sooners may find themselves on the outside looking in next week.
The fall from grace was swift as it was shocking. The Oklahoma Sooners were the class of college basketball for several weeks earlier in the year.
On Wednesday afternoon, they critically endangered their NCAA Tournament hopes.
In the Big 12 Tournament opener, the Sooners fell to their Bedlam rivals Oklahoma State, 71-60. The Cowboys used rebound domination to get the job done, leading to a 19-2 edge in second-chance points.
They’ll now move on to face Kansas with a major opportunity to boost their postseason resume.
With all due respect to Mike Boynton’s program, however, the focus will remain on the Sooners for the next few days. How could it not? Behind freshman sensation Trae Young, Oklahoma was set to let college basketball afire, rising to a top-four ranking in the AP poll at one point.
How the mighty have fallen. Oklahoma collapsed during Big 12 play, losing six straight en route to an 8-10 conference record. The Sooners didn’t discriminate, losing to every team in the conference at least once except for TCU.
Many prognosticators declared the Sooners safe regardless of Wednesday’s result. Let’s not be hasty, though. The team has a losing record against both Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 teams, going 6-8 against the former and 3-4 against the latter prior to Wednesday.
If Oklahoma has one saving grace, it’s their non-conference schedule. Wins over Oregon, USC, and Northwestern have dulled over time. That win over Wichita State, however, remains impressive.
So does a victory over Kansas (although they lost by 30 during their second meeting).
Before Wednesday’s loss, we listed Oklahoma as a No. 8 seed. One loss shouldn’t drop them out of the NCAA Tournament picture.
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They’ll be sweating come Selection Sunday, though. The Oklahoma Sooners have nobody to blame but themselves.