Porter Moser sends message to NCAA Tournament selection committee

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser believes there’s no doubt his team should be in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners closed out the regular season with a 75-72 road victory against fellow bubble team and rival Texas, strengthening their case to make the field.

But given how close OU was to falling out before Saturday’s results, it still could be sweating things out come Selection Sunday in a week. Moser made the case for why there should be no question as to whether it gets in the field or not.

“This SEC is crazy,” he said on SEC Network. “Going into this game, we had seven wins against the field. You talk about playing well down the stretch, our last five games we’re 3-2 in the SEC and two of the games were top 15 losses at the buzzer. We’re playing our best basketball of the year. There’s no doubt.”

Oklahoma was projected to be the last team in the NCAA Tournament before Saturday’s game according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi. The Soonerswill finish the regular season 19-12 (6-12 SEC) and its strong finish will certainly be on the committee’s mind, as Moser pointed out.

But in addition to urging them to realize how strong of a league the SEC is, he also noted the teams that the Sooners defeated in the nonconference.

“We beat Michigan, who was one of the top teams in the Big Ten,” he said. “Arizona, who was one of the top teams in the Big 12. And Louisville, one of the top teams in the ACC. It’s been a grind in the SEC, but for us guys to come in here and get this road dub, that was huge. We’re looking forward to moving on to the SEC Tournament.”

OU used a balanced effort to take down Texas on Saturday, as six different players scored in double figures. Brycen Goodine led the way with 14 points, including 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

The win against the Longhorns comes on the heels of a top 25 victory against Missouri earlier this week. That has to have the Sooners feeling confident heading into the SEC Tournament, where they will take on No. 11 seed Georgia in the first round.

OU lost to the Bulldogs in the regular season, but will look to get their revenge. If they can win that game and get to 20 victories on the year, it should only strengthen their case to make the NCAA Tournament.

Tip time for the game between Oklahoma and Georgia is set to begin 25 minutes after the third game on March 12, which will be sometime late evening.