Oklahoma Looks to Prove Committee 'Made a Mistake' at College Basketball Crown

NORMAN — Oklahoma is one of just two SEC teams still playing basketball.

The Sooners, who were the first squad left out of the NCAA Tournament’s 68-team field, will play against Colorado in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

OU and Auburn — an NIT semifinalist — are the only SEC teams with games to play after 10 squads from the conference bowed out during the first two weekends of the Big Dance.

On Monday, OU coach Porter Moser admitted that narrowly missing out on the tournament still stings. But he sees the Crown as an opportunity for his team to build on its late season surge.

“I wrote (the team) a long note that night and said, ‘Obviously, you can be upset and point the finger of reasons why we got left out… or we can prove to them why they made a mistake,’” Moser said. “These guys love each other, love the game and want to keep competing for that.”

The Sooners won eight of their final 11 games before Selection Sunday. Oklahoma earned regular-season wins against NCAA Tournament squads Vanderbilt, Georgia and Missouri before defeating South Carolina and Texas A&M in its first two games at the SEC Tournament.

OU ended the year playing as well as anybody. But one month of bad basketball kept the Sooners out of the tournament.

After defeating Ole Miss in their SEC opener, the Sooners lost nine games in a row from Jan. 7 to Feb. 7. Most of their losses came against teams that eventually made the NCAA Tournament — like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Texas A&M and Texas — but they also dropped games against middling Mississippi State and South Carolina squads.

Oklahoma Sooners, Tae Davis — Oklahoma forward Tae Davis drives against Missouri's Mark Mitchell. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Several key contributors from the 2025-26 squad will have the opportunity to return next year if they choose to, including Derrion Reid, Xzayvier Brown, Dayton Forsythe, Jeff Nwankwo and Kuol Atak.

Though Forsythe (ankle surgery) and Nwankwo (internal team matter) won’t travel to Las Vegas with the team, the time between OU’s final SEC Tournament game and Wednesday’s contest against the Buffaloes has allowed the team to build a foundation for next year, per Moser.

“I can’t tell you enough about the positive dynamic of being able to practice with your guys, keep working with them,” Moser said. “Some of the teams that ended the season, guys went home. I’m with our guys every day, practicing, getting better, talking about different things all the way up through this tournament.”

For several others, the Crown will be their last college basketball endeavor — Nijel Pack, Tae Davis, Mohamed Wague, Jadon Jones, Kirill Elatontsev and Reid Lovelace will all be out of eligibility after the tournament.

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Pack spent only one season at Oklahoma after previously playing at Miami (Florida) and Kansas State. The guard averaged 16.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting a career-best 45.2 percent on 3-pointers.

Pack acknowledged that it “sucked” to not be selected for the NCAA Tournament. But he is also excited to wrap up a season that he described as memorable in Las Vegas.

“It’s just another opportunity, I know I’m grateful for it,” Pack said. “Being a senior, this is our last opportunity to go out and play. For us to be able to go out with a bang, that just makes me even more excited.”

Colorado, Oklahoma’s first opponent at the Crown, went 17-15 overall and 7-11 in Big 12 play during the regular season. The Buffaloes are led by Tad Boyle, who has coached them since 2010.

If the Sooners defeat Colorado, they will face the winner of the quarterfinal game between Minnesota and Baylor. The four teams on the other side of the bracket are Stanford, West Virginia, Rutgers and Creighton.

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