Men's Oklahoma Basketball Is Down This Season, But Against Serious Competition
It has not been a good season for men’s Oklahoma basketball record wise, but the level of the competition the Sooners have gone up against has been as good as any team in the country.
Oklahoma has already lost more games, a little more than halfway through the 2016-17 schedule, than it did all of last season. The Sooners are 8-11 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12. A year ago, with four starters who had played more than 100 consecutive games together and, of course, National Player of the Year Buddy Hield, Oklahoma 12-6 in the Big 12 and 29-8 in all games.
Jan 10, 2017; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Dante Buford (21) drives to the basket in front of Kansas Jayhawks guard Lagerald Vick (2) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
But it isn’t as if the Sooners have been struggling and coming up short against second-fiddle opponents. According to ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index, Oklahoma has played the most difficult schedule in the country.
Ten of OU’s 19 games so far this season have been against teams ranked in the top 50 of the BPI, and four of those teams (Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Wisconsin are currently in the top 15. And on Saturday, the Sooners will go up against Florida in the annual Big 12-SEC Basketball Challenge. The Gators are at No. 15 in the BPI.
Seven of the Oklahoma losses this college basketball season are by six points or less and four are by four points or less. So it’s not that the Sooners have not been in the games they lost. In fact, in all but about two of their 11 losses, OU has held the lead at some point in the second half.
The Sooners lead the nation in the number of overtime games this season. Lon Kruger’s squad has played in four of them this season (Northern Iowa, Memphis, West Virginia and Iowa State), including one that wasn’t decided until two extra sessions. OU is 1-3 in overtime games in 2016-17, the one win coming in double overtime over West Virginia.
And the beat goes on. Oklahoma plays 10 of its remaining 11 regular-season games against teams ranked in the BPI top 50.
The Sooners, incidentally, are at No. 67 this week, according to the BPI.
If you have to go down, I suppose it’s good for the ego to know that you’re losing, by and large, to some quality teams. The sad news is that your season is probably going to be over much sooner than everyone else’s.
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