Mussatto's Minutes: OU men's basketball joins elite company with 10-0 start
The 11th-ranked OU men's basketball team beat Green Bay 81-47 on Saturday to move to 10-0.
Only four of the 362 teams in Division-I men’s basketball are unbeaten: OU, Houston, James Madison and Ole Miss.
This is OU’s first 10-0 start to a season since 2015-16, and the fourth Sooner team this century to start 10-0.
2015-16: The last OU team that started 10-0 made it to the Final Four. Led by a Naismith Player of the Year in Buddy Hield, and fellow seniors Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler, the Sooners went 29-8 (12-6 Big 12). OU’s first loss was that iconic triple overtime game at Kansas. After beating No. 1 seed Oregon, the No. 2 seed Sooners were crushed 95-51 by Villanova in the national semifinal.
2008-09: OU, in Blake Griffin’s sophomore season, cruised through its early schedule. The Sooners (30-6, 13-3 Big 12) made it all the way to the Elite Eight, where they lost to Tyler Hansbrough and the Tar Heels. North Carolina went on to win the national championship. Griffin, the consensus National Player of the Year, was selected No. 1 in the 2009 NBA Draft.
2003-04: OU notched impressive wins over ranked Michigan State and Purdue teams, but after a 10-0 start OU was walloped 86-59 by UConn in Game 11. The Sooners then lost their first three games of Big 12 play. OU finished 20-11 (8-8 Big 12) and missed the NCAA Tournament.
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College football bowl games this week
Bowl season kicked off Saturday with seven games.
Most notable was Texas Tech’s 34-14 win over Cal in the Independence Bowl as the Big 12 moved to 1-0. The Red Raiders are 2-0 in bowl games under second-year coach Joey McGuire.
Here are the four bowl games this week before we get to Saturday, when there are seven games.
Famous Toastery Bowl: Western Kentucky (7-5) vs. Old Dominion (6-6), 1:30 p.m. Monday, ESPN
The Famous Toastery Bowl, named for a breakfast chain in the Carolinas and Virginia, will be played at Jerry Richardson Stadium, home of the Charlotte 49ers.
It’s a one-year fill in for the Bahamas Bowl as Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau is undergoing renovations. The game is expected to move back to the Bahamas next season.
Old Dominion and Western Kentucky were Conference USA rivals before the Monarchs joined the Sun Belt two seasons ago.
Western Kentucky is playing in its fifth straight bowl game. Old Dominion, which joined the FBS ranks in 2014, is 1-1 in bowl games.
Line: Old Dominion -4.0
Frisco Bowl: UTSA (8-4) vs. Marshall (6-6), 8 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN
Marshall started the season 4-0 before limping to a 2-6 finish. UTSA, meanwhile, started 1-3 and finished 7-1.
Roadrunners coach Jeff Traylor was reportedly in the mix for the openings at Texas A&M and Houston, but it looks like he's staying in San Antonio.
UTSA has gone 38-14 under Traylor, but the Roadrunners are looking for their first-ever bowl win (0-4). Marshall is playing in its 10th bowl game in the last 11 seasons.
Line: UTSA -12.0
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Boca Raton Bowl: South Florida (6-6) vs. Syracuse (6-6), 7 p.m. Thursday, ESPN
South Florida, oddly enough, is 8-2 all time against Syracuse. Eight of the 10 meetings came when the two schools were both in the Big East, which ceased to exist as a major football conference in 2012.
Alex Golesh, a graduate assistant at OSU in 2008, is in his first season as the Bulls’ coach. Syracuse hired George defensive backs coach Fran Brown to replace Dino Babers as head coach, but interim Nunzio Campanile will coach the Orange in the bowl game.
South Florida hasn’t won a bowl game since 2017, Charlie Strong’s first year as coach. Syracuse is 16-10-1 all time in bowl games.
Line: Syracuse -3.0
Gasparilla Bowl: Georgia Tech (6-6) vs. UCF (6-6), 5:30 p.m. Friday, ESPN
For UCF, it will be the Knights’ third trip to the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa in the last five seasons. Knights quarterback John Rhys Plumlee will be playing in his final game.
Georgia Tech is bowling for the first time since 2018. The Yellow Jackets last won a postseason game in 2016, a 33-18 victory over Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Line: UCF -4.5
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: Oklahoma basketball, Porter Moser join elite company with 10-0 start
