Sooners Will Face Tough Foe In North Dakota State

Oklahoma may be a No. 5 seed, but its first round matchup with No. 12 seed North Dakota State won't be an easy one. 

Sunday, March 16th 2014, 8:07 pm

By: News 9

Sooners Will Face Tough Foe In North Dakota State

Oklahoma is dancing for the second year in a row and the Sooners' seeding and region gives excitement to a long list of possibilities.

The Sooners were granted the No. 5 seed in the West region and will face No. 12 seed North Dakota State, the champions of the Summit League on Thursday in Spokane, Wash. The Bison may be more well-known for their three-peat as national champions at the FCS level, but should not be overlooked on the hardwood.

We'll have much more on NDSU this week, but for now, know the Bison have a terrific team and went 25-6 this season. They're led by senior Taylor Braun, who led the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game. He also led the team in rebounds and assists. The Bison also lead the NCAA with a team field goal percentage of 50.9 percent.

There should be a lot of offense when the two teams collide. The Bison are No. 46 in the country in scoring offense at 76.4 points per game while the Sooners ended the season at 82.2 points per game, good for No. 7 in the country.

The Sooners probably cost themselves a chance at a No. 4 seed with a quick exit from the Big 12 tournament, but were still rewarded for an excellent season, one very few—if anyone—saw coming.

Oklahoma is in the same region as Oklahoma State, the No. 9 seed in the West region, and the two teams could potentially meet in the Sweet Sixteen. That's a tall order, however, as the Cowboys would have to beat No. 8 seed Gonzaga and top-seed Arizona and the Sooners would have to get through the Bison and No. 4 seed San Diego State, which sent the Sooners packing from the NCAA tournament a year ago.

It's not unreasonable to expect the Sooners to win a game in the NCAA tournament, but it won't be an easy trip to the Northwest. We've seen the Sooners play at a level that could result in a deep March run, but we've seen them lay some pretty bad eggs as well.

Whichever OU team shows up this week will go a long way toward determining how far the Sooners go in the tournament.