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OU Basketball: Meet Oklahoma's Opponents in the NCAA Tournament Regional

The Sooners will face off against Connecticut in the first round in Raleigh, NC, and Florida and Norfolk State await in the second round.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears
Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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Oklahoma is back.

Porter Moser’s fourth try was the charm, as the Sooners landed an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament despite a 6-12 record in league play in their first season as members of the Southeastern Conference.

Turns out, OU’s incredibly challenging strength of schedule in SEC play, coupled with college basketball’s only undefeated record in non-conference play (which included wins over No. 24 Arizona, No. 24 Michigan, Providence, Louisville Georgia Tech, and Oklahoma State) impressed the selection committee.

Now Moser will try to recapture the postseason magic that once propelled his Loyola-Chicago squads to a Sweet Sixteen and a Final Four.

At Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC, on Friday night, the No. 9 seed Sooners open tournament play against 8-seeded Connecticut — only the back-to-back defending national champs. That game will be televised on TNT.

If OU (20-13) gets past UConn (23-10), the Sooners will face the winner between No. 1 seed Florida (30-4) and 16-seed Norfolk State (24-10) in a Sunday game (time and TV are TBA). The Gators beat the Sooners by 22 in Gainesville earlier this year.

Here’s a quick preview of the field in Raleigh:

1-seeded Florida Gators

Florida Gators Walter Clayton Jr.
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Record: 30-4

Coach: Todd Golden

Key Wins: At North Carolina, No. 1 Tennessee, at No. 1 Auburn, No. 22 Mississippi State, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 7 Alabama, No. 21 Missouri, No. 5 Alabama, No. 8 Tennessee. Beat Oklahoma 85-63 on Feb. 18.

Leading Scorer: Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. played two years at Iona and two at Florida. He leads a balanced attack (four players in double figures, seven over 6 points per game) by averaging 17.5 points and shooting 44 percent from the field, 38 percent from deep and 86 percent from the free throw line.

Of Note: Golden’s top assistant and associate head coach is former OU aide Carlin Hartman. Hartman coached five seasons at OU from 2016-21 under Lon Kruger.

8-seeded Connecticut Huskies

UConn Huskies Solo Ball
UConn guard Solo Ball / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Record: 23-10

Coach: Dan Hurley

Key Wins: Baylor, at Texas, No. 8 Gonzaga, Xavier, No. 9 Marquette, No. 12 St. John’s, No. 24 Creighton, No. 20 Marquette.

Leading Scorer: In addition to landing on the All-Name Team, sophomore guard Solo Ball leads the Huskies with 14.6 points per game, shooting 44 percent from the field (42 percent from 3-point range) and 84 percent from the free throw line. UConn might have the most balanced scoring in the tournament, however: Freshman forward Liam McNeeley averages 14.5 and junior forward Alex Karajan averages 14.4.

Of Note: Dan Hurley is one of college basketball’s most outspoken personalities, and he’s one of its most accomplished winners. He guided the Huskies to the national championship in 2023, then repeated in 2024, and now owns two of the proud program’s five titles. Times were a little leaner this year, though, as UConn went 0-3 at the Maui Invitational and lost two out of three to Creighton.

16-seeded Norfolk State Spartans

Norfolk State Spartans Brian Moore Jr.
Norfolk State guard Brian Moore Jr. / Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Record: 24-10

Coach: Robert Jones

Key Wins: Alabama State, High Point, South Carolina State

Leading Scorer: Senior guard Brian Moore Jr. is a downhill scorer who transferred last year from Murray State. Moore averages 18.4 points on 42 percent shooting from the floor (40 percent from 3-point range) and 82 percent from the free throw line for the Spartans this season.

Of Note: Moore hails from Harlem, NY, where he finished fourth in Kingston High School history in scoring. But his college career actually began in Oklahoma: he was a junior college All-American at Northeastern A&M in Miami, OK, averaging 21.3 points and 5.2 assists per game and shooting 52 percent from the floor. He scored 37 points against Seminole JC, the second-highest scoring output in NEO history, and in just one season was the sixth player in program history to surpass 1,000 points.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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