OU men's basketball: Where latest ESPN Bracketology has Sooners seeded for NCAA Tournament

NORMAN — The OU men's basketball team is a No. 4 seed in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's latest NCAA Tournament projections, which released Tuesday.

The No. 9-ranked Sooners (13-1, 1-0) are off to their best start to a season since the 2015-16 campaign, and they began Big 12 play on Saturday with a 71-63 home win over Iowa State. It marked the first Quad 1 win of the season for OU, which is No. 22 in the latest NET rankings.

OU is projected to face No. 13-seeded Akron in Spokane, Washington, for the opening round of the Midwest region. The NCAA Tournament is scheduled to begin on March 19.

Here's a look at where the rest of the Big 12 teams are projected:

OU men's basketball: Sooners climb to No. 9 in AP Top 25 poll

Which Big 12 teams are projected to make the NCAA Tournament?

• Houston: No. 1 seed vs. No. 16 St. Peter's/South Dakota State (South)

• Kansas: No. 1 seed vs. No. 16 Troy (West)

• Baylor: No. 4 seed vs. No. 13 UC Irvine (East)

• Oklahoma: No. 4 seed vs. No. 13 Akron (Midwest)

• BYU: No. 6 seed vs. No. 11 Colorado (West)

• Cincinnati: No. 10 seed vs. No. 7 Villanova (East)

• Iowa State: No. 10 seed vs. No. 7 Nevada (Midwest)

• Texas Tech: No. 10 seed vs. No. 7 Utah State (South)

• TCU: First four out

• Kansas State: Next four out

• Teams not mentioned: Texas, UCF, Oklahoma State and West Virginia

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU men's basketball: Sooners projection in NCAA Tournament by ESPN