Why didn't OU make the NCAA Tournament? Blame the non-conference schedule
Joe MussattoThe Oklahoman
NCAA Tournament committee chairman Charles McClelland sure mentioned “non-conference schedule” a lot when parsing teams and seed lines in his CBS interview Sunday night after the men’s bracket was revealed.
If non-conference strength of schedule mattered as much to the committee as McClelland made it seem, then there’s your answer as to why OU, honored with the dubious distinction of “first team out,” wasn’t invited to the Big Dance.
The Sooners went 12-1 in non-conference play against the nation’s 274th-ranked non-conference strength of schedule. That’s 274 out of 362 Division-I teams.
OU’s only non-conference loss was to No. 1 seed North Carolina. Not bad, right?
Well, here are the teams OU beat in its non-league slate, ordered by net rating: Providence (57), Iowa (62), USC (88), Arkansas (115), Monmouth (193), Texas State (206), Green Bay (227), Central Michigan (265), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (328), Texas-Rio Grande Valley (331), Central Arkansas (344), and for good measure, Mississippi Valley State (362) — the worst team in Division-I men’s basketball.
Know what all 12 of those teams have in common? Not one of them made the tournament.
Of the committee’s “last four in,” No. 10 seed Colorado had the worst non-conference strength of schedule (262nd). Of the “first four out,” OU’s 274th-ranked non-conference schedule was only better than Pittsburgh’s (343).
If it seems like we’re focusing too much on games played before anyone was paying attention to college basketball, well, I agree.
OU had the 21st-ranked overall strength of schedule courtesy of playing in the big bad Big 12. The Sooners went 8-10 in the conference with a first-round loss to TCU in the Big 12 Tournament.
TCU, by the way, earned a No. 9 seed. Want to know the most glaring red flag on the Frogs’ resume? Yup, non-conference strength of schedule. One that ranked 274th nationally, even easier than OU’s.
With that in mind, the gap between OU getting a No. 9 seed and missing the NCAA Tournament must have been razor thin. TCU went 21-12 overall and 9-9 in the Big 12. OU went 20-12 and 8-10 in the Big 12.
The Horned Frogs beat the Sooners in the regular season, and then again in the Big 12 Tournament. Even after the loss, OU coach Porter Moser was confident the Sooners were in. Turns out, they might have just lost a de facto play-in game.
Despite facing a Big 12 gauntlet, beating up on the Mississippi Valley States and Green Bays of the world did the Sooners more harm than good.
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.
oktexan's opinion...
A few yeras ago Texas was in the same spot. No one wants to go to the NIT. However, not only did UT show up, we won the whole thing.
