Mussatto: Shorthanded Sooners might hold their breath until NCAA Selection Sunday
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Sooners better hope the NCAA Tournament selection committee does its homework. Porter Moser might want to fax a copy of OU’s injury report to NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis for good measure.
Because on the surface, the OU team that lost 77-70 Wednesday to TCU is not worth inviting to the Big Dance.
One would only need to dig a little deeper, though, to see the Sooners were without leading scorer Javian McCollum, do-it-all wing Rivaldo Soares and backup big man John Hugley IV — all of whom are expected to be back for the NCAA Tournament if the Sooners are granted a berth.
The injuries don’t excuse OU’s Big 12 Tournament loss — the Sooners didn’t play well, didn’t lie down either — but the absences of McCollum and Soares in particular are necessary context in assessing the Sooners’ NCAA Tournament status.
Although the Sooners will be holding their breath until Selection Sunday, Moser was confident, defiant even, that OU should be in.
“We were 18-6 at full strength with a top-20 schedule in the country,” Moser said. “And we just hit this injury bug these last seven or eight games. And the guys know it’s about to come to (an) end, and that’s what’s kind of encouraging. We’re gonna be at full strength probably by Friday or Saturday.”
More: Best of Bedlam men's basketball in Big 12 era: Top OU, OSU players, games
Selection committee chairs, throughout the years, have said that injuries are taken into account. I don’t doubt it, but that’s loads of information to consider, especially over the course of a season when every team can play the injury card at some point.
But Moser (like any coach whose team is on the bubble in March) made a persuasive case for the Sooners.
“We have zero Quad 2, 3 or 4 losses,” Moser said.
That much is true. OU is 4-12 in Quad 1 games and 16-0 in Quad 2 through 4 games.
As a refresher: Quad 1 games are home games against NET top-30 teams, neutral site games against NET top-50 teams and road games against NET top-75 teams. Quad 2 through 4 games are sorted by similar, but declining standards.
The Sooners don’t have a bad loss. That bolsters their case. They don’t have a lot of good wins, either.
It’s far from a certainty that OU gets in, but it’s still more likely than not.
More: OU Board of Regents approves donations for Patty Gasso statue, Sooners' football contracts
“If the committee is looking at this game, they should see we have fight,” senior guard Le’Tre Darthard said.
The shorthanded Sooners trailed the Horned Frogs by as many as 19 points before getting within seven points with 1:05 left.
“Come the tournament, that should be a sight to see,” Darthard added. “We’re really good when we’re healthy.”
The committee might also see the Sooners, injuries and all, as a team that’s staggering at a time when others are surging.
OU has lost six of its last eight games with the two wins coming against Oklahoma State and Cincinnati in overtime. On the flip side, the Sooners came within a hair of upsetting No. 1 Houston.
This is the tenuous nature of the bubble. Cases can be crafted on both sides.
“I feel very confident we will be in,” Moser said. “With our resume, we should be.”
Soon, we’ll find out what the committee thinks of the Sooners. If the bracket makers see more than what met the eye in Kansas City.
More: College basketball rankings: Big 12 teams in updated Coaches Poll, AP Top 25 on March 11
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU basketball might be on NCAA Tournament bubble for Selection Sunday
