Bracketology 2024: Purdue, Villanova, and BYU among Feast Week winners

6. Oklahoma Sooners

The Sooners had missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago but with a new group of transfers and Coach Porter Moser around, there was hope the program could turn things around. But the first four wins were complete blowouts against inferior competition, so we had to wait until this week when they played in the Rady Children’s Invitational against power conference competition.

The first opponent was Iowa, one of the best-scoring teams in the country. Yet Oklahoma’s offense managed to slow them down completely, allowing just 24 first-half points in the 79-67 win. Jalon Moore led the team with 18 points, one of four starters in double figures.

The title game featured a matchup with a ranked USC squad. It ended up being one of the more entertaining games of the week, going down to the final minute. In the end, the Big 12 program got the tournament title, winning 72-70. Siena transfer Javian McCollum led the team with 18 points, while sophomore breakout star Oteha Oweh had 16 pts on 7/11 shooting.

These are definite Quad 2 wins that could be Quad 1 depending on how the Hawkeyes/Trojans do. More than anything, the Sooners aren’t stacking up losses in the non-con ahead of what’s going to be a brutal Big 12 gauntlet. A couple of future tests await Oklahoma in Providence and Arkansas soon.