NCAA Basketball: A one-bid Pac-12, overrated Oklahoma and more takeaways
By Brian Rauf
2) I don’t believe in Oklahoma – and you shouldn’t either
Oklahoma will likely be ranked in the top 25 next week due to their 11-1 record but there isn’t anything I have seen from them that has inspired confidence.
Outside of an 83-70 win over Creighton, the Sooners have an elevated profile thanks to victories over Florida, Notre Dame, USC, and Northwestern. In a normal year, those would all be quality wins. But that is not the case this year.
Notre Dame and USC are both terrible and Florida and Northwestern, having not played at a high level this year, each have four losses. Propping a team up because they’ve beaten brand-name schools, and not because of quality wins, is usually the recipe for an overrated team.
Christian James (17.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg) has stepped up following Trae Young’s departure and the Sooners are playing much better defensively than they did last year, ranking ninth in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. However, those numbers are inflated due to the lackluster offenses they’ve faced. They’re a mediocre offensive team who lacks athleticism and isn’t great on the glass.
The Sooners start Big 12 play at Kansas, vs. Oklahoma, at Texas Tech, vs. TCU, and vs. Kansas State. We’ll find out if they’re for real during that stretch – and I think we’ll see them struggle.