OU Basketball: Breaking Down Metrics, Rankings for Oklahoma’s 7-0 Start

The Sooners made their debut in the AP Poll on Monday, but how do they stack up in other rating systems?

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Oklahoma couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2024-25 men’s basketball season.

The Sooners are 7-0 and recently placed first in the Battle 4 Atlantis midseason tournament, beating Providence, Arizona and Louisville. OU entered the AP Top 25 on Monday, debuting in the rankings at No. 21.

Oklahoma still has a handful of non-conference games before beginning its first season in the Southeastern Conference. Here is where OU currently stands in various ratings and metrics:

AP Poll

As previously mentioned, the Sooners are No. 21 in the latest AP Poll.

Oklahoma is one of eight SEC teams ranked in the AP Top 25, along with Auburn (No. 2), Tennessee (No. 3), Kentucky (No. 4), Alabama (No. 10), Florida (No. 13), Texas A&M (No. 22) and Ole Miss (No. 23).

There really aren’t metrics to the Associated Press poll. It’s a rankings system fully dependent on the views of basketball reporters throughout the country. Some of them might use the eye test, others might use analytics.

The point is the AP Poll is flawed. Still, it’s impressive for the Sooners — who missed out on the NCAA Tournament each of the previous three seasons — to be ranked in the poll this early in the year.

KenPom

In the KenPom — a ratings system that takes offense, defense, tempo, strength of schedule and other factors into account — Oklahoma is No. 41.

OU has a +16.77 grade in the KenPom system, which combines the aforementioned metrics. In this ranking system, Oklahoma is the ninth-ranked SEC squad.

NET

The NCAA also unveiled its first NET rankings — a monumental system for determining which teams reach the NCAA Tournament — of the 2024-25 college basketball season on Monday, and the Sooners were listed at No. 37.

NET is a computer-based system that analyzes wins and losses, where games are played and strength of opponents. Games are broken down into four quadrants, with quad-one wins being the most important when it comes to NCAA Tournament selection

Oklahoma is the eighth-best team in the SEC in the NET rankings. The Sooners’ win against Louisville (No. 30) was noted as a quad-one win, while OU’s victories over Arizona and Providence were quad-two and quad-three wins, respectively.

All four of the Sooners’ other wins are currently quad-four victories.

Conclusion

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played for Porter Moser and company. But considering the Sooners haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 campaign, they’re off to a good start.

OU Basketball: Oklahoma Included in AP Top 25; Where are the Sooners Ranked?

If the Sooners can keep — or improve upon — their statuses in the various polls and rating systems, they’ll be in a good spot to return to the Big Dance.

Oklahoma’s jump from zero receiving votes to No. 21 in the AP Poll is notable. It means that people are taking note of the Sooners’ hot start and see them as a team that could contend in a few months.

The Sooners’ first conference season in the SEC begins on Jan. 4 against Alabama. Before that, OU will play six non-conference games, starting with an ACC-SEC Challenge game against Georgia Tech in Norman on Tuesday.