Sooners' magic may give Porter Moser a path back to favor

Oklahoma has been a different team the last two-and-a-half weeks, finally, apparently, earning a trip to the NCAA tournament under their fourth-year coach

Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears works against Kentucky’s Collin Chandler Thursday night at the SEC tournament. (OU Athletics Photo)

They're in.

Unless everybody is wrong, after coming up short three straight seasons under coach Porter Moser, the Sooners are going back to the NCAA tournament in his fourth season.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Oklahoma among the last four teams receiving byes into the field of 64. Says Lunardi, the Sooners will be a 10-seed taking on seven-seed Gonzaga in Providence, Rhode Island, part of the West Regional.

CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm agrees on the opponent, Gonzaga, but says OU will be a nine-seed taking on the eight-seed Bulldogs in Raleigh, North Carolina, part of the East Regional.

It’s an inexact science.

Fox Sports’ Mike DeCourcy, who fails to provide appointment cities, has 10-seed OU meeting seven-seed Marquette in the East Regional.

On3’s James Fletcher says it will be the 10-seed Sooners meeting seven-seed UCLA in Cleveland, part of the South Regional.

Of course, this being written on Saturday evening, things can still change, but they’d have to change an awful lot to leave OU out in the cold again.

So, they’re in.

Write it down.

Also, for good or ill, this apparent new reality could mean something else, too.

It could mean Moser’s coming back for a fifth season for several reasons, some better than others.

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