Porter Moser: 'I definitely think it's time' for new Oklahoma basketball arena

Porter Moser is in the midst of his first season as Oklahoma basketball coach. But it didn’t take him long to realize the Sooners need to improve their basketball arena.

Thursday, Moser advocated for a new arena for Oklahoma basketball. The Sooners’ current arena, the Lloyd Noble Center, opened in 1975 and was last renovated in 2001.

However, Moser confirmed he and athletic director Joe Castiglione have talked about a new arena in the future. He added he’d have more to say on the subject after the season wraps up.

“I definitely think it’s time for a new arena for a lot of reasons,” Moser said, via the OU Daily. “Definitely been talking since I was hired with Joe, he’s very much in those conversations and very aggressive with those conversations.”

The Lloyd Noble Center holds almost 11,000 fans, and Moser has made it a goal to fill every seat. That said, he realizes facility upgrades are essential in building a program’s profile, and that’s why he and Castiglione have had the conversations.

“There are people who have had two arenas since (1975),” Moser said. “It’s a huge part of what we want and the direction we want to go.”

Oklahoma is 14-12 this season and has a 9-5 record at the Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have had some big upsets at home this season, including No. 14 Florida, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 9 Texas Tech. They’ve remained in the NCAA tournament picture, coming in as a No. 11 seed in On3’s latest bracketology on Tuesday.

Oklahoma is now gearing up for a rematch with Iowa State on Saturday in Ames.

Oklahoma a project No. 8 seed in Big 12 tournament projection

The Big 12 has established itself as one of the top conferences in college basketball this season. With a slate of marquee games every weekend, the standings have been in flux since the start of the season.

Here is a look at the Big 12 Conference Tournament picture, as things stand Wednesday.

Big 12 standings

As of Feb. 15

1) Kansas Jayhawks (10-2)

2) Baylor Bears (9-3)

3) Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4)

4) Texas Longhorns (7-5)

5) Kansas State Wildcats (6-7)

6) TCU Horned Frogs (5-5)

7) Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-8)

8) Oklahoma Sooners (4-8)

9) West Virginia Mountaineers (3-9)

10) Iowa State (3-9)

2022 Big 12 Conference Tournament schedule

All times Central

First Round: Wednesday, March 9

Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed | 6 p.m. | TV TBD

Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 10

Game 2: No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed | 11:30 a.m. | TV TBD

Game 3: No. 1 seed vs. Game 1 winner | 2 p.m. | TV TBD

Game 4: No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 seed | 6 p.m. | TV TBD

Game 5: No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed | 8:30 p.m. | TV TBD

Semifinals: Friday, March 11

Game 6: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 | 6 p.m. | TV TBD

Game 7: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 | 8:30 p.m. | TV TBD

Championship: Saturday, March 11 | 5 p.m. | TV TBD