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OU Basketball: Oklahoma Punches its Ticket to the Dance

For the first time since 2021, the Sooners are playing in March as Porter Moser finally takes OU to the NCAA Tournament.

Ryan Chapman

Oklahoma Sooners Coach Porter Mosesr Reacts to NCAA Tournament Reveal
Oklahoma Sooners Coach Porter Mosesr Reacts to NCAA Tournament Reveal /
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NORMAN — Finally, Porter Moser and Oklahoma are returning to the Big Dance. 

After two bubble disappointments and one losing season in his first three years in charge, the OU coach got to celebrate with his team on Selection Sunday as the team gathered in Lloyd Noble Center for the tournament reveal watch party. 

The Sooners’ names were called, and Oklahoma (20-13) was slotted as a No. 9-seed by the committee, where they’ll take on 8-seeded Connecticut (23-10), the back-to-back national champs, on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

How to Watch 8-seeded UConn vs. 9-seeded Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament:

  • When: Friday, March 21
  • Where: Raleigh, NC
  • Time: Approximately 8:25 p.m.
  • Channel: TNT

OU will ship out to Raleigh, NC, where if the Sooners win their initial game, they'll would face the winner of No. 1-seeded Florida (30-4) and 16-seeded Norfolk State (24-10).

The journey back to the NCAA Tournament — which both Moser and Oklahoma last experienced in 2021, although not together — was tumultuous during OU's first season in the Southeastern Conference. 

The Sooners notched key non-conference victories over Arizona and Louisville in Bahamas before taking out Michigan at the Jumpman Invitational. 

Those triumphs gave Oklahoma an undefeated (13-0) record in non-conference games and kept OU alive as key wins on the résumé while the team struggled through the opening stages of SEC play. 

A home collapse against Texas A&M and a first half no-show at LNC against Texas put OU right where it has lived for three of the last four years — on the bubble for the entirety of February. 

The team’s struggles mirrored the up-and-down play of freshman phenom Jeremiah Fears, who reclassified to the 2024-25 rookie class and then also needed time to adjust to the size and physicality of conference play. 

Oklahoma was blown out by then-No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Tennessee and No. 21 Missouri in consecutive contests before an incredible late-game collapse against bottom-dwelling LSU seemingly put the season on the brink. 

A tough road showing at No. 2 Florida, who went on to win the SEC Tournament in style, added to the headaches, but the Sooners rallied down the stretch. 

OU took down No. 21 Mississippi State in Norman before enduring back-to-back heartbreakers to No. 17 Kentucky (thanks to former Sooner Otega Oweh) and Ole Miss (due to Oklahoma high school product and offseason portal target Sean Pedulla) by a combined four points. 

Fears, Jalon Moore and the Sooners rallied to exact revenge on No. 15 Missouri and Texas in the final two games of the regular season, and all but sealed up an at-large bid to the tournament with an 81-75 win over Georgia on the opening day of the SEC Tournament. 

OU erased a 12-point deficit in the final 90 seconds against Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Tournament, but Oweh again tormented his former team with a buzzer beater to end Oklahoma’s stay in Nashville. 

Closing the season by winning four of the final seven games not only punched Oklahoma’s ticket back to the Big Dance, but it kept the Sooners out of having to make a trip to Dayton, OH, to participate in the First Four. 

According to the NCAA seedings, OU drew the No. 36 overall seed as the SEC landed a record 14 tournament teams. The Sooners were the 11th SEC team seeded.

Fears has averaged 22.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds over the past seven contests, and his improved play will serve as a warning for those in Oklahoma’s tournament path. 

Moser has made two prior trips to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach, both at Loyola Chicago. His showings in March are what drew Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione to him after Lon Kruger's retirement following the 2020-21 season ended in the "COVID bubble" tournament in Indianapolis. OU lost as an 8-seed to No. 1 overall seed and national runner-up Gonzaga. 

In the 2018 tournament, Moser took Loyola Chicago all the way to the Final Four, and he followed that up with a Sweet 16 berth in 2021. 

This marks OU’s 34th trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners hold an all-time record of 43-33 in the Big Dance, and Oklahoma has advanced to the Sweet 16 11 times while rolling all the way to the Final Four on five occasions, most recently in 2016.

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is managing editor at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.