Oklahoma Earns 4-seed in NCAA Tournament

NORMAN — Oklahoma's NCAA Tournament path is set.

Saturday, the Sooners learned they would host the first two rounds of the Big Dance at the Lloyd Noble Center. On Selection Sunday, the committee filled in the rest of the details.

OU earned a 4-seed in the Sacramento 4 Region.

The Sooners will open the tournament against 13-seed Idaho. The other two teams headed to Norman are 5-seed Michigan State and 12-seed Colorado State.

The winner of the matchup between OU and the Vandals (29-5, 17-1 Big Sky) will meet the winner of the Spartans and Rams in the Second Round.

"One of the most amazing things, and you kind of forget that, is when your name pops up and the excitement in the room.," OU coach Jennie Baranczyk said on Sunday night. "… You kind of also forget how important it is to host and how much you really want to put Oklahoma, again, on a map of showing basketball matters. … Really excited about that."

The contest between Oklahoma and Idaho will be played on Friday at the Lloyd Noble Center at 9 p.m. Michigan State and Colorado State are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

The Second Round games will take place on Sunday in Norman.

"For us to get to the Sweet 16 we need to really feel this place," Baranczyk said. "I mean the fans really do have an impact on the outcome of a game, and so that’s something that we’re going to give you everything that we have and we really hope that you get to do it with us."

The Sooners finished their second season in the SEC 24-7 overall and 11-5 in league play in the regular season.

In Baranczyk's five years in charge of the program, Oklahoma has hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament three times, and OU has never dropped lower than a 5-seed. The five-year stretch as a 5-seed or better matches the best run in program history (2006-2010).

Last year, the Sooners returned to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.

If OU makes it to the second weekend of the tournament this year, 1-seeded South Carolina could potentially await.

The Sooners beat South Carolina in Norman in January 94-82 in overtime.

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Iowa is the 2-seed in the Sacramento 4 Region, and TCU is the 3-seed.

The Sooners have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the 26th time in program history, and the 24th time since 2000.

OU is led by ESPN Freshman of the Year Aaliyah Chavez and All-SEC First Team center Raegan Beers. Chavez is averaging 18.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Beers adds 15.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.9 blocks per game.

Forward Sahara Williams is the third-leading scorer with 12.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Payton Verhulst adds 11.9 points, 5.5 boards, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per contest, and Zya Vann rounds out the starting five with 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals.