How to Watch Oklahoma's SEC Tournament Opener Against Florida

Oklahoma’s March run officially gets underway on Thursday afternoon.

The Sooners enter the SEC Tournament as the 5-seed, and they’ll take on Florida after the Gators dispatched of Mississippi State.

OU enters the tournament on a six-game winning streak after growing throughout conference play, but a new phase of the season brings new challenges for Jennie Baranczyk’s freshman-laden team.

“Sometimes as freshmen, we underestimate how much experience we’re actually getting,” Baranczyk said on Tuesday. “Especially on this team, this year in a very historic SEC season where there’s a lot of really, really talented players and teams.

“… They haven’t had this experience so here we go and you just hope that all the lessons we’ve learned this season can come together right now.”

Second Team All-SEC selection Aaliyah Chavez will play her first tournament game at OU alongside fellow newcomers Brooklyn Stewart and Keziah Lofton.

And though the Sooners have experienced hands in All-SEC First Team center Raegan Beers, senior guard Payton Verhulst and junior forward Sahara Williams, Oklahoma still had to go through growing pains in January and early February.

“When your teams get better in February and you continue to grow and you’re headed into March in a good space, that’s what you want. That’s the goal of coaches,” Baranczyk said. “… I think what was neat to see as a coach was those games that you lost early that were hard to lose early, you saw us replay those in February with different outcomes because experience is our best teacher. So I think we got to see that on display. … You look at one month to the next, and this team continues to grow and get better.”

How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Florida

When: Thursday, March 5
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Channel: SEC Network
Radio: 107.7 FM The Franchise Oklahoma City

Those early growing pains are why the Sooners enter this week as the 5-seed, but strong performances down the stretch have OU in position to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Oklahoma checked in at No. 12 in the NCAA Selection Committee’s latest top 16, meaning the Sooners would play the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Norman.

Though the Sooners are unlikely to fall out of a hosting spot with a poor showing at the SEC Tournament, a pair of wins could secure their bid and potentially place them in one of the two Fort Worth regionals.

But Baranczyk doesn’t want her team to entertain any of those thoughts against the Gators.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

“I don’t really care what seed we get. We want to be able to host,” she said. “… Obviously, you want to win every game you play, but it’s how we play. It’s how we step on the floor. So it’s not let’s go in and we have to win every game. It’s go in and get better and to have fun playing, and when your teams can do that in March, magic will happen.”

OU won the regular season matchup with Florida 81-74 last month, but the Sooners had to erase an 11-point halftime deficit in the contest.

Thursday represents another opportunity to put a year’s worth of growth on display, and a victory would set up a date with 4-seeded LSU on Friday.

Tip-off between the Sooners and the Gators is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., and the game will air on the SEC Network.