WACO, Texas — Even after a fifth consecutive loss and a 3-9 Big 12 record, Oklahoma is still showing up in NCAA Tournament projections.
There are two reasons why, as ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi explained Tuesday.
First, what OU accomplished in November and December (11-1) is weighed as much as what it does in January and February (4-9). Second, conference records don’t mean all that much to the selection committee.
“Nowhere on the NCAA team sheets is conference record documented,” Lunardi wrote. “Let’s repeat that for emphasis: the most important segment of any team’s results is excluded from the data most referenced by the committee.