Oklahoma's Porter Moser Says Sooners Have the 'DNA' to Make the Big Dance

KANSAS CITY — Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament resume is complete.

The Sooners fell to the No. 14-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders 56-55 on Friday night in the semifinals of the 2022 Big 12 Tournament, meaning OU will now sit idle until it learns its postseason fate on Selection Sunday.

Porter Moser’s team finished the year 18-15 overall, posting a 7-11 record during Big 12 Conference regular season play.

Oklahoma had work to do in Kansas City to find its way into the Big Dance, and the Sooners came up huge with an upset over the No. 3 Baylor Bears on Thursday night.

Now after coming up just short of pulling a second upset over the Red Raiders, Moser said there are no doubts in his mind of where his team belongs come Sunday.

“I've been in the NCAA Tournament,” Moser said after the loss to Texas Tech. “I’ve advanced in the NCAA Tournament. I know what an NCAA Tournament team looks like.

“ … This has the DNA of an NCAA Tournament team.”

Moser pointed to the difficulty of OU’s schedule as a reason why the Sooners should be in the NCAA Tournament.

“We didn't shy away from our schedule,” he said. “Our strength of schedule, I think it was (No.) 4 (in the nation) this morning, and now we just played another line, so it could move up. ... I think we have 10 or 11 Quad 1 or 2 wins. We have wins against the top line. We played another top-line team, Kansas, twice, to a two-point game, three-point game at Allen Fieldhouse.

“This league is like none other. There is no bottom. It's every night and you're playing against top, top level teams. And we have competed every night.”

Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 wins are a metric the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee looks at to help compare different teams.

A Quad 1 win is defined as a home win against a team ranked in the top-30 of the NET rankings, a neutral-site win against a top-50 team in the NET rankings, or a road victory over a top-75 team.

This season, Oklahoma finished 4-11 in Quad 1 games and 6-2 in Quad 2 contests, and the Sooners entered Friday’s battle against the Red Raiders as the No. 38 team in the NCAA NET rankings.

Yet, bracket experts like ESPN’s Joe Lunardi project OU to miss the Big Dance.

After Friday’s games, Lunardi slotted Oklahoma as the second team left out of the field of 68.

Wyoming, Michigan, SMU and Xavier were all projected by Lunardi to make the NCAA Tournament over the Sooners, yet OU’s four Quad 1 victories is more than both Wyoming’s three and SMU’s two Quad 1 victories.

Oklahoma’s 6-2 record in Quad 2 games was also better than SMU’s 4-4 mark, while Wyoming posted an 8-1 record in Quad 2.

On top of the Sooners’ Quad 1 and Quad 2 metrics, Moser pointed to the difficulty of OU’s postseason path as another reason why his team should be in the tournament.

“I listen to a lot of the experts,” said Moser. “They talk about, ‘Oh, this team has to win to get in.’ Well, they don't have to play Baylor.

“ … I will add this, too. In terms of looking at it. … The teams (OU played) that are eligible for the NCAA Tournament, so exclude Oklahoma State, our losses are all except two from tournament teams. All the losses we have are tournament teams, except two.

“One was an overtime loss (to Butler) and one (was on the) third day of (the Myrtle Beach Invitational) to a veteran older team (Utah State), top-60 team.”

The two biggest marks against the Sooners could be their 15 losses and the absence of Elijah Harkless from the lineup, who underwent season-ending surgery.

But Moser had a defense for both of those points as well.

“Some might say a number of losses, but Kansas twice, Texas Tech twice, you're competing against that,” said Moser. “But we still have top-line wins. Arkansas is competing for the top in the SEC, we beat them double figures. We just beat Texas Tech double figures. We just beat Baylor. We have some other really good wins.

“I know how we can compete against these top teams. When you look at the average (NET ranking) of our losses, it's 31. That's outrageous.”

As for the injury to Harkless, Moser said it shouldn’t play any role in the decision to include OU into the Big Dance.

“Personally, I don't think it will be in the committee's mind,” Moser said. “I think if anything it's a positive. Playing great. Tonight was a one-point loss against a top two-line team (without Harkless).”

Things slant even more in Oklahoma’s favor if Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball rankings are factored in.

The Sooners are ranked No. 31 in Pomeroy’s updated rankings after Friday's games, which is two spots higher than Michigan (33), 21 higher than SMU (52), 27 higher than Wyoming (58) and 29 higher than Xavier (60).

Ultimately, Moser’s Sooners will have to wait until 5 p.m. on Sunday to learn their fate when the entire bracket will be revealed on CBS.

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!

Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!

Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.