1 'March Madness' team sticks out as the most undeserving, according to fans
As a basketball team, Oklahoma just isn’t that great this year, especially considering they experienced a free-fall down the stretch to drop out of the top 25. But the Sooners remain a big draw for the NCAA tournament mainly due to one player — Trae Young, the explosive freshman who led the nation in scoring.
But many fans, members of the media and bracketologists are now upset, saying the Sooners were only included in the NCAA tournament because of the latter reason, when the former reason should have kept them out.
Oklahoma finished the year 18-13 and 8-10 in the Big 12. They lost eight of their last 10 games, including six in a row in February, and they were defeated by Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Oklahoma State, by the way, finished 19-14, with a similar 8-10 record in the conference, and didn’t make the NCAA tournament.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, was selected as the 10th seed in the Midwest bracket. They’ll face off against the 7th seed, Rhode Island, who finished 25-7. Tip-off is Thursday at 12:15 pm ET.
So how did this happen? You want the official reason?
“We look at the entire body of work,” said Bruce Rasmussen, the athletic director at Creighton who chairs the selection committee, when grilled about about why the Sooners got in.
“We look at all the games. The games in November, December count the same as the games in February and March. And Oklahoma had six wins against top 35 RPI (teams),” he said, according to The Washington Post. “They had some absolutely great wins. We know that they stumbled down the stretch, and that certainly affected their seeding, but they had enough on their resume to get in.”
The tournament is a television show. That's the main reason why Trae Young University got an at-large bid.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) March 11, 2018
Rasmussen added that the Sooners were “playing in an extremely difficult league,” which had seven teams make the tournament. Thus they had a strong enough résumé to get in.
But the real reason, as far as many people are concerned, has less to due with Oklahoma’s performance as a team and more to do with their best player.
Young, who led the nation in scoring (27.4 ppg) and assists (8.8 apg), is currently one of the biggest stars in the sport. Of course, recognizable stars are good for the game, and especially good for ratings.
With his long-range game, Young reminds many of Warriors star Steph Curry, who carried Davidson to the Elite Eight in 2008 and also led the nation in scoring.
Shame on anyone who thought the committee was going to keep Trae Young out of the bracket. The NCAA hates a lot of things. Money is not one of them.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) March 11, 2018
TNT and CBS analyst Charles Barkley tried to make sense of it.
“They were 2-8 (to end the season) … what, were they a No. 1 seed before they went 2-8, to drop all the way down to 10?” he asked Rasmussen on Sunday.
The Sooners were ranked as high as fourth in the country during the season. They were 12th before beginning there 2-8 slide in February.
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale was more pointed in his criticism.
Our guys are reacting to the bracket on ESPN and @DickieV is NOT happy about OU > Oklahoma St. pic.twitter.com/alrMzoBfZG
— ESPN (@espn) March 11, 2018
“I know I’m a dummy — I know I can’t spell, I know I can’t read, I can’t write, I have no math skills — but I want someone to explain this to me,” Vitale said. “How in the world can Oklahoma State be sitting home today, and Oklahoma in the tournament, when Oklahoma loses 11 of their last 15 games, they didn’t win one game in the year 2018 on the road, and on top of it, Oklahoma State beats them twice. Not once, twice.”
“I think it is a disgrace, I think it is an embarrassment, and it’s a humiliation to what this tournament’s about. To tell you the truth, it frustrates the h— out of me,” Vitale said.
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