Oklahoma Climbs Into AP Top Five for First Time in 17 Years

The Sooners are surging as OU rides a 13-game winning streak into a crucial January stretch.

Oklahoma guard Aaliyah Chavez brings the ball up the court for the Sooners. | NATHAN J. FISH / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jennie Baranczyk’s Oklahoma Sooners are shooting up the polls. 

Following a pair of wins to open SEC play, OU jumped to No. 5 in the AP Poll.

Monday marked Oklahoma’s first appearance in the top five since the final poll of the 2008-09 campaign that ended at the Final Four. 

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For the first time since '09, the Oklahoma Sooners are ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll! pic.twitter.com/hLfbOpxKoF

— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 5, 2026

The Sooners started the year at sixth in the AP Poll, but have been climbing since dropping the second game of the season to UCLA, who currently sit fourth in the poll.

Since losing to the Bruins, OU (14-1) has ripped off 13-straight wins. 

Baranczyk’s defense has smothered opponents in their first two conference games of the year. 

Oklahoma opened SEC play with a 72-50 road victory over Texas A&M. The Aggies were held to 0-of-10 shooting from the floor in the third quarter of that contest, which allowed the Sooners to assert full control and cruise to the victory. 

Then the defense stepped up a level on Sunday. 

The Sooners dominated Mississippi State 95-47, and OU held the Bulldogs to 20 percent shooting from the floor all game. 

True freshman Aaliyah Chavez currently leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting, and she’s also added 4.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. 

Center Reagan Beers is averaging 17.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

Forward Sahara Williams is third on the team in scoring, chipping in 13.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest, and fellow starters Zya Vann (11.6 points) and Payton Verhulst (10.7 points) are also averaging double-figure scoring outputs. 

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The schedule is about to ramp back up for the Sooners, however. 

Starting this week, Oklahoma will take on four straight opponents ranked in the AP top 20.

Up first, OU will host No. 18 Ole Miss on Thursday at the Lloyd Noble Center (6 p.m., SEC Network+).

The Sooners will then travel to take on No. 6 Kentucky on Sunday. 

Oklahoma will then return home to battle No. 12 LSU on Jan. 18 before closing the stretch with a top-five clash against No. 3 South Carolina on Jan. 22. 

Baranczyk’s squad will also start February with a pair of top ten matchups at No. 2 Texas (Feb. 1) and at No. 7 Vanderbilt (Feb. 9).

OU’s current 13-game winning streak is the second-longest in program history, trailing only the 20-game streak from the 2008-09 team.