Sooner men, women at hoops crossroads

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser questions a call during the first half of the Sooners’ loss at Baylor on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The nice thing about crossroads in the midst of collegiate basketball seasons?

So many games on the schedule, there tends to be more than one. In fact, when you stop and think about it, every game has the opportunity to be one if you can make it be one.

So there’s that.

But in the way we think about them, they’re not unlimited and, perhaps you’ve concluded, too, both coach Porter Moser’s Sooner men and coach Jennie Baranczyk’s Sooner women are at one.

The men, after a 13-0 start, have fallen to O-3 in the SEC standings after consecutive conference losses to Alabama, Texas A&M and Georgia.

To be fair, the Sooners (13-3, 0-3 SEC) were always unlikely to beat the Crimson Tide (15-1, 3-0), though losing by 28 points was a decidedly bad look. But while A&M is very nearly a top 10 team, OU’s still supposed to beat the Aggies (13-3, 2-1) in Norman, and while Georgia in Athens is just the kind of game OU always seems to lose since Moser’s arrival, the Bulldogs (14-2, 2-1) are not world-beaters, though it’s hard to beat anybody shooting 38.1 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc while attempting just nine free throws.

Beginning tonight, against Texas (11-5, 0-3), with a home crowd on its side, OU must begin rescuing its season.

The Sooner women (14-3, 2-2 SEC), though still in good standing nationwide, ranked 13th, are nonetheless still waiting to play a conference game for which they can be proud.

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Hi, it’s Clay. I hope you’ll stick with his column despite it being behind a paywall and I hope you’ll consider a donation in the form of a paid subscription, because it’s paid subscriptions that keep Oklahoma Columnist viable. They’re available for just $6/month or $60/year. If you enjoy Sooner sports, you’ll learn a lot here, I promise. As always, thanks for reading.

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