Oklahoma's Late Rally Falls Short as the Sooners Miss the NCAA Tournament
Oklahoma’s late-season run came up a bit short.
On Selection Sunday, the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed, and the Sooners (18-15 overall, 7-11 in Big 12 play) were left out by the Selection Committee.
Oklahoma was listed as the second team out of the tournament.
In the end, NCAA Tournament Selection Committee Chair Tom Burnett said the Sooners didn't rack up enough signature wins to earn a bid into the tournament.
"A lot of Quad 1 opportunities to win games (for Oklahoma), and simply weren't able to win enough to get into the bracket," Burnett told ESPN's Holly Rowe on Sunday evening. "That's just going to happen year to year."
The Sooners finished the year 4-12 in Quad 1 games.
Porter Moser’s team rallied late in the year after losing senior guard Elijah Harkless to an injury, making a final case to make the Big Dance.
Oklahoma won its final three regular season games, closing out the home slate with victories over Oklahoma State and West Virginia before winning on the road at Kansas State for the first time in nearly a decade.
OU’s hot streak spilled over into Kansas City, where the Sooners upset the No. 3-ranked Baylor Bears in the Big 12 Tournament to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
On Friday night, the No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders finally ended OU’s streak, holding on for a 56-55 victory to end Oklahoma’s run in Kansas City.
But as the Sooners finished the season on a high note, so did other teams near the cut line.
Loyola Chicago emerged out of St. Louis as the Missouri Valley Conference Champions to seal an automatic bid for Moser’s former teams, and a pair of deep runs from Indiana and Texas A&M negated OU’s late charge.
Then Virginia Tech topped Duke in the ACC Tournament to secure another bid which could have fallen to the Sooners on Saturday.
Finally, the bubble burst for Oklahoma on Sunday when the Richmond Spiders upset Davidson in the Atlantic 10 Championship Game to steal another automatic bid for the Big Dance.
The season isn’t over for OU, however, as the Sooners will receive a bid to the NIT.
Oklahoma now waits to see if it will host the opening rounds of the 32-team NIT, as the new goal for the postseason will be to go out on a high inside Madison Square Garden at the end of March.
As the second team out of the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners are eligible to host the opening rounds of the NIT if they so choose.
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