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OU Basketball: Sooners Dip in AP Poll

The Sooners dropped two tough Big 12 Conference road games last week, but got respect in the rankings and only slipped six spots

John E. Hoover

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In a loaded Big 12, Oklahoma is garnering respect.

OU lost two games last week, but the Sooners’ latest ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll shows the voters think highly of their overall resume.

OU slipped just six spots from No. 9 to No. 15 in this week’s AP poll.

After Big 12 Conference road losses at TCU and at No. 3 Kansas, it seems voters remain impressed by the Sooners’ hot start.

OU fell to 13-3 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play after losing 76-66 on Saturday in Lawrence, just four days after an 80-71 setback in Fort Worth.

KU largely controlled their final home meeting with Oklahoma, leading for nearly 35 of the 40 minutes. But OU tied the game four times and there were 10 lead changes. Eventually, Kansas’ formidable presence down low was too much and the Jayhawks outscored the Sooners 46-26 in the paint. KU also committed a program-record-low two turnovers against an OU defense that has been thriving off a swarming mindset.

The Horned Frogs were unranked, but took down No. 9 OU and No. 2 Houston in back-to-back home victories.

In all, the Big 12 now has eight of its 14 teams in this week’s poll: No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 Houston, No. 9 Baylor, No. 15 OU, No. 19 TCU, No. 20 BYU, No. 24 Iowa State and No. 25 Texas Tech. Texas fell from No. 25 in last week’s rankings.

The Sooners are back home on Wednesday night when they host West Virginia in a 7 p.m. tipoff (ESPN+), and hit the road again on Saturday when they visit Cincinnati for a noon start (ESPN+).

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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.