Busting Brackets
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Big 12 Basketball: Each team’s worst performance of the last decade

By Joey Loose

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 08: Head coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts to a lead over the USC Trojans after a timeout with Trae Young
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 08: Head coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts to a lead over the USC Trojans after a timeout with Trae Young /
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HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 02: Isaiah Cousins #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners defends Ryan Arcidiacono #15 of the Villanova Wildcats during the NCAA Men’s Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 02: Isaiah Cousins #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners defends Ryan Arcidiacono #15 of the Villanova Wildcats during the NCAA Men’s Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Oklahoma

April 2, 2016 (Villanova 95, Oklahoma 51) (GS: 28)

For a program that’s had Blake Griffin, Buddy Hield, and Trae Young in the last decade, it’s almost disappointing that the Sooners haven’t made more progress than they had. The Sooners boast an Elite Eight in 2009 and a Final Four in 2016, but only two other NCAA Tournament wins across the other eight Tournaments (they missed four). Of course, they’ve done much better than certain other programs with stud athletes (LSU did wonders with Ben Simmons), but they also could’ve done a whole lot more.

Our attention turns towards Buddy Hield and towards that Final Four run from two years ago. There’s no doubt that Oklahoma had an extremely good season. Their first loss after starting 12-0 was a legendary 3OT affair at Kansas. They earned a 2-seed based on a great regular season (25-7) and powered through Cal State Bakersfield, VCU, Texas A&M, and Oregon to make their first Final Four in fourteen years. They were set to face off in the Final Four against a Villanova team they had beaten by 23 in early December, but that’s where things went horribly wrong.

Eight minutes into the game, Oklahoma led by 1; but eight minutes later they were already down 16. Overpowered by Villanova’s offensive attack, Oklahoma was paralyzed. Buddy Hield only scored 9 points in his final game and Villanova really turned on the gas in the second half, pushing out 53 second-half points.

The usual suspects did heavy work for Villanova, led by 23 points from Josh Hart and 18 from Kris Jenkins, and Oklahoma had no response. Making the Final Four was impressive, but dropping the game by 44 points left an insanely sour taste in every Sooner fan’s mouth.

The last two years have been down years for the Sooners, but there’s no reason to believe Lon Kruger can’t have this team competitive again. Then again, this team couldn’t even win an NCAA Tournament game with Trae Young, so maybe the future isn’t as bright as we might think.

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