Will Oklahoma make men's NCAA Tournament? Where Sooners stands in latest bracketology update
For the second time in as many years, the Oklahoma men’s basketball program faces at least some uncertainty over whether it will make the NCAA Tournament.
This time a year ago, the Sooners were squarely on the bubble and were met with heartbreak on Selection Sunday, finishing as the selection committee’s first team out of the field.
This year, coach Porter Moser’s team finds itself in a more desirable position.
The 2024-25 season has seldom been boring for Oklahoma, which started 13-0 and rose as high as No. 10 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll before dropping 12 of its next 16 games in the cutthroat SEC. It has recovered nicely, though, winning three of its past four games.
After a last-second loss to former Sooner Otega Oweh and Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Tournament Thursday in Nashville, Oklahoma’s dreams of a conference title are over and its NCAA Tournament fate is squarely in the hands of the selection committee.
How are things looking for the Sooners with Selection Sunday two days away? Here’s a quick look at Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament resume and where it appears in various mock brackets:
Oklahoma NCAA Tournament resume
- NET ranking: 44
- KenPom ranking: 37
- Bart Torvik ranking: 49
- KPI ranking: 41
- BPI ranking: 45
Oklahoma’s spot in the various rankings that are used on the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s team sheet put it ahead of several other teams on the bubble.
The Sooners are helped considerably by their early season success — which included neutral-site wins against Arizona, Michigan and Louisville — and some of the victories they’ve been able to pick up in SEC play against projected tournament teams like Missouri, Mississippi State and Georgia. They have seven wins against Quad 1 teams, tied for the 15th most among Division I programs, and are No. 39 nationally in strength of record.
Oklahoma basketball NCAA Tournament chances
With that resume, and after its first-round SEC Tournament win against Georgia on Wednesday, Oklahoma is widely projected to make the 68-team NCAA Tournament field.
The Sooners are a No. 10 seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest mock bracket on ESPN, with a first-round matchup against No. 7 seed Gonzaga in Cleveland. They’re not listed among Lunardi’s last four teams in or his last four byes, which indicates he comfortably has them in the field.
USA TODAY Sports’ latest bracketology also has Oklahoma in as a No. 10 seed, with a first-round game against former Big 12 foe Kansas in Lexington, Kentucky. Elsewhere, CBS Sports has the Sooners as a No. 9 seed facing off against two-time reigning national champion UConn in Raleigh, North Carolina and Fox Sports has them as a No. 10 seed going against No. 7 seed Illinois.
The NCAA Tournament appearance would be Oklahoma’s first under Moser, who is in his fourth season at the school after a successful stint at Loyola Chicago that included a Final Four run in 2018 and a Sweet 16 in 2021.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma basketball bracketology: Will Sooners make NCAA Tournament field?
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