Between OU and Oklahoma State men’s and women’s hoops, we expected to shoot a paltry 25% this college basketball season, with the Sooner women being the only slam dunk to be good.
But here we are, a week from the new year, and things aren’t so bleak on the Oklahoma hardwoods. Merry and bright, more like it.
The OU women (11-1), ranked No. 9, are right where we thought they’d be. The only blemish for Jennie Baranczyk’s squad was an overtime loss to No. 14 Duke.
But how about Porter Moser’s squad? The Sooner men (12-0), ranked No. 12, have been one of the most delightful surprises in all of college hoops. Yeah, yeah, we’ve seen this movie before — last season the OU men started 10-0 and still missed the NCAA Tournament — but those Sooners didn’t have Jeremiah Fears. The freshman phenom leads the Sooners in points (18.0) and assists (4.7). If Fears keeps this up, he’ll be playing in the NBA this time next year.
The OU men have a bunch of good-sounding wins — Providence, Arizona, Louisville, Michigan — but not a lot of actual good wins. As of Monday morning, OU ranked 36th in the NCAA’s NET ratings and 37th in KenPom.
OU’s 308th-ranked strength of schedule (out of 364 Division I teams), according to KenPom, is the reason why the computers are slower to embrace the Sooners than voters.
Things are about to get a whole lot tougher starting Jan. 4, when OU plays at No. 5 Alabama to open SEC play. Alabama is one of four SEC teams, along with Auburn, Tennessee and Florida, ranked inside the KenPom top 10.
SEC squads Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Texas are also ranked ahead of the Sooners, according to KenPom.
This is a make-or-break season for Moser. After failing to lead the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons in Norman, getting an invite to the 2025 Big Dance is a must for Moser to keep his job.
But enough of that kind of talk. This was supposed to be jolly.
Some seriously good basketball is being played in Norman.
Nine schools have men’s and women’s basketball teams both ranked inside the AP Top 25: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Duke, Alabama, Kentucky, UConn, Ole Miss, Michigan State and UCLA.
And while OU is doing the lion’s share of the work in carrying the state’s college hoops banner, give the Cowgirls and Cowboys their props.
The OSU women are 11-1, fresh off a big-time victory over Iowa State in the Cowgirls’ conference opener. The Cowgirls received votes in the AP Poll and are another good week or two away from cracking the top 25.
It’s early, but Jacie Hoyt has the Cowgirls well-positioned for a second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last three seasons.
The Cowgirls play a fun brand of basketball. They rank second nationally in 3-point percentage (40.3%) behind Notre Dame (43.4%).
And then there’s Steve Lutz’s Cowboys. We knew the OSU men were in for a rough season, but the Cowboys (8-3) have been scrappy. They’ve won every game they were supposed to win and have lost every game they were supposed to lose. It could be worse, and it’s probably going to get worse when Big 12 play begins. But the bar is low.
This is a foundation-setting season for Lutz, and so far so good on that front.
Is it crazy to think, among the four OU and OSU squads, that we could have three teams in the NCAA Tournament? Yeah, probably so. March is a long ways away. And we’ve been fooled before by teams that piled up nonconference wins before freefalling in league play.
But at least we’re having the conversation. Shooting 75% is still in play.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
