Sooners selected for NCAA Tournament

Bust out your dancing shoes, the Sooners are headed back to the NCAA Tournament! 

Oklahoma received an at-large bid to the tournament as a 9 Seed. The Sooners will take on 8-seeded Connecticut in Raleigh, North Carolina. Connecticut is the back-to-back defending national champion.

MOSER MADNESS

This is Oklahoma’s first trip to the tournament since 2021 and its first appearance under head coach Porter Moser (fourth season). That said, Moser has found success at the Big Dance in the past. In 2016, his Loyola Chicago team made a Cinderella-run to the Final Four. The Moser-coached Ramblers also made it to the Sweet 16 in 2021, the year before Moser came to Norman. 

HAVE NO FEARS

True Freshman Jeremiah Fears has been OU’s biggest star this year, and he has been especially impressive as of late. Fears is averaging over 25 points per game over his last four games, and he had three steals in each of the SEC Tournament games. Fears just turned 18 this past October, and he is projected to go in the first round of this year’s NBA draft. Oklahoma’s offense is at its best when Fears is playing confidently, and the offense is run through him. 

PEAKS AND VALLEYS

It has been an up-and-down year for the Sooners. After a 13-0 run through nonconference play, OU went 6-12 in the historically-loaded SEC Conference. The Sooners added their 20th win by beating Georgia in the first round of the SEC Tournament. OU has won four of its last seven games coming into the NCAA Tournament, with those three losses coming by a combined five points. 

LUCKY NUMBER 34?

This is Oklahoma’s 34th trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners have made it to the Championship twice and the Final Four five times, most recently in 2016 (shoutout to Buddy Hield!). This year’s Final Four is set for April 5th in San Antonio.