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OU basketball is in the NCAA Tournament, it's dancing, it's official

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•about 8 hours•

BPrzybylo

Jalon Moore25
OU senior Jalon Moore. (Alonzo Adams - Imagn Images)

OU basketball is in the NCAA Tournament. Period.

Throughout the course of the weekend, there was never any doubt. Except for recent history. After being on the wrong side of the bubble two of the last three seasons, not this time.

Still, you wanted to see the official Selection Sunday unveiling. There it was. OU (20-13) is the No. 9 seed in the West region taking on Connecticut in the first round Friday.

It happened.

Just 52 weeks ago, it was head coach Porter Moser trying to reconcile what to tell his team after it was told it was the First Team Out. A 20-win regular season wasn’t enough. Labeled the Second Team Out in Moser’s first year in Norman, for lack of a better term, everybody felt cursed.

And when a 13-0 start this season turned into a 16-10 shaking your head feeling, everybody thought here we go again. The curse continues.

And when the team suffered one gut-punch loss after another, you waited for the inevitable collapse. At least mentally.

Except it never came. You could go on and on about the games OU could’ve/should’ve won, but the Sooners still kept everything together.

That’s a credit to Moser and his staff. A credit to the determination of the players who simply rose back up every time they were knocked down.

OU lost SEC home games by one point (Kentucky), two points (Texas A&M), three points (LSU) and four points (Texas). Stayed connected.

Non-conference wins against Arizona, Louisville and Michigan carried their weight all season. However, that wasn’t going to matter if OU didn’t pick up some quality SEC victories.

Better late than never. At 16-10 and 3-10 in conference play, backs against the wall, faith being tested, the Sooners responded.

One Quad 1 victory after another. And even in heartbreak like a three-point road loss at Ole Miss, just kept punching.

The Sooners won four (Mississippi State, Missouri, at Texas, Georgia) of their last seven games down the stretch to earn their ticket being punched. Not to simply fall into it but to leave no doubt.

A rallying cry all season to get Jalon Moore, Sam Godwin to the tournament. Hey, it helps when you have a star freshman like guard Jeremiah Fears.

In this stretch, Moore has remained the unquestioned team leader. But Fears has decided it’s now or never for himself, and consequently, the team.

The recipe worked. OU has looked like that team from November and December. And, maybe most importantly, is playing its best basketball when it matters most.

It had to, didn’t have a choice. It was the only way to wipe away what happened 52 weeks ago. That team will never get its shot. But this year’s Sooners? Pack your bags, bring your dancing shoes. You’re invited.

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