ESPN analyst evaluates Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament chances after late surge
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Just over a month ago, Oklahoma lost 94-78 to Kentucky, the Sooners’ ninth straight defeat. At that point, an NCAA Tournament bid appeared nowhere near likely for Porter Moser’s squad.
The Sooners followed that up, though, with a road upset of Vanderbilt and a home win against Georgia. Despite back-to-back losses at Tennessee and against Texas A&M, they’ve won their last four and six of their last eight, culminating with Saturday’s 88-85 overtime victory at Texas to close out the regular season.
That said, Oklahoma, according to ESPN’s Neil Paine, still has “work to do” if it’s to make the field of 68. It’s the No. 11 seed in the SEC Tournament, where it will face 14th-seeded South Carolina on Wednesday.
“The forecast models are dubious OU can make a real case for an at large (the consensus odds sit at just 12%), but given the chaos around the SEC bubble, and the fact that the conference projects to send 11 teams according to Bracketology, this team is suddenly on the radar,” Paine wrote on Sunday.
As Paine notes, four of Oklahoma’s wins over the past eight games have been against Quadrant 1 teams, greatly helping its cause. But it will need a deep run in Nashville to even come close to being considered for an at-large berth.
Should the Sooners beat the Gamecocks — they fell to South Carolina 85-76 on Jan. 20 — they’ll take on Texas A&M in Thursday’s second round. The Aggies defeated the Sooners 75-71 on Feb. 21.
Who will make the NCAA Tournament field? Kalshi is taking action on predictions!
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
