Kentucky's next opponent has a head coach on the hot seat

Porter Moser is on the hot seat in Norman.

Moser, the head coach at Oklahoma, has the Sooners struggling as he nears the end of his fourth season in charge. Had it not been for a timely (and potentially season-saving) home win over No. 24 Mississippi State on Saturday, Oklahoma would be riding a six-game losing streak ahead of this week’s showdown with Kentucky.

OU is sitting on a 17-10 overall record with an ugly 4-10 mark against SEC competition. After a red-hot 13-0 start to the season that included wins over Arizona, Louisville, and Michigan (all currently among KenPom’s Top 25), Oklahoma has been taken to the woodshed by the SEC in year one after the move from the Big 12. The Sooners have just four wins — none against KenPom’s Top 25 — since the turn of the new year. Moser’s team has lost by double-digits in six of its last 10 losses.

As of Sunday morning, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Oklahoma among the “Last Four In” group to make the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Five Quad 1 wins have boosted the resume, but eight Quad 1 losses, plus defeats in Quad 2 and Quad 3 opportunities, have the Sooners on the edge of missing the postseason. Losing to a 14-13 LSU team at home on Feb. 15 is tough to overlook. Oklahoma is essentially fighting for its tournament life with four games left in the regular season. Moser might just be fighting for his job.

Since being hired by Oklahoma ahead of the 2021-22 season, Moser has put together an overall record of 71-55 with a conference record of just 23-43 (three seasons in the Big 12, one in the SEC). The Sooners have only one 20-win season under Moser, which came last season (20-12), and zero NCAA Tournament bids. He was wildly successful at Loyola Chicago (2013-21; you remember Sister Jean, right?) with a combined record of 188-141 that included a Final Four (2018) and Sweet 16 appearance (2021) — a very tough task for a mid-major program to achieve.

But for whatever reason, it hasn’t worked out at Oklahoma. This isn’t the Missouri Valley Conference anymore. Moser has some talented pieces this season in senior forward Jalon Moore (17 PPG, 5.7 RPG) and star freshman guard Jeremiah Fears (15.9 PPG, 4 RPG, 4 APG), but it has yet to result in wins when it matters most. Out of 16 SEC teams, Oklahoma has the 12th-best offense and 13th-best defense. There doesn’t seem to be much of an identity to the roster. Moser would probably like to have Otega Oweh back for the junior season he’s currently having at Kentucky, too.

Oklahoma isn’t exactly a powerhouse program when it comes to men’s basketball, but missing the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight season would be unfamiliar territory. It hasn’t happened since a lengthy tournament drought from 1947-1978. Since then, Oklahoma has gone on a three-year NCAA Tournament-less streak only three times, including the current drought. Another miss in 2025 could certainly spell the end of the Moser era.

Which is why beating Kentucky — even with the Wildcats shorthanded — on Wednesday will be necessary. A win might not lock Oklahoma into an NCAA Tournament spot for good, but it will certainly improve the resume by a significant amount as another Quad 1 victory. Moser desperately needs it.