Dean Blevins on the NCAA tourney: Blue bloods set to meet Friday night

Oklahoma is back in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament; a nine-seed in the West Regional, naturally playing on the East Coast, in Raleigh, NC. Porter Moser’s Sooners face Dan Hurley’s eighth-seeded UCONN Huskies in the late window Friday night.

It’s the uber-intense & occasional autocratic Hurley’s 5th straight appearance, coming off back-to-back Natties. It’s Moser’s job-saving first ‘straight’ appearance in four tumultuous seasons in Norman. It’s 23-10 vs 20-13. Crazy as it sounds, Oklahoma opened just a 4.5-point underdog – quite remarkable when you think about it.

The Huskies suffered several surprise losses which can be attributed partly to injuries. But it’s the defensive efficiency element that’s largely to blame. Losing multiple players to the NBA Draft seems to have impacted the defense more than the offense.

UCONN has three players averaging 15 points per game, one of whom is the key to whatever optimism the Huskies will take with them to Raliegh. They’ve been a different team since the injury return of Liam McNeely, who got hurt in early February. Solo Ball and Alex Karaban average 14.7 and 14.6 respectively.

The Sooners are at a height and size disadvantage, made worse by the loss in the SEC Tournament of starting center Sam Godwin. One would anticipate his degree of effectiveness - if allowed to participate - would be less than the A-for-effort but C minus-minus-for-execution against the gauntlet of athletic SEC foes OU faced during the 2024-25 season.

A couple of things stand out when assessing why Oklahoma would be only a 4.5-point underdog. First, OU has nothing to lose while UCONN has the opposite.

Second, with the 2024-25 SEC being considered by Jay Bilas the toughest conference in college basketball history, the Sooners were hardened by the grind of going from one NCAA Tourney-bound team to another. A record 14 of 16 SEC teams earning their way into the Big Dance.

OU’s defense ended up ranked ahead of only 2 of the 16 teams in defense. But the quality of wins has been impressive from the jump. Maybe Joe Lunardi did factor the following in leaving him seemingly devoted to opining that OU was still in the field as it lost a dozen league games.

Specifically, if there is such a good thing as ‘good losses’ OU would lead the field. Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, etc.

Here’s where 9 of OU’s very good wins came from and where they are heading into March Madness: An awesome 13-0 non-con record is highlighted by victories over Arizona (a 4 seed), Michigan (5 seed), and Louisville (8 seed).

Yes, only six SEC wins, but the teams that beat them excitedly head to this weekend with strong seeds: 6 seed Missouri, 8 seed Mississippi State, 9 seed Georgia, 10 seeds Vandy and Arkansas, and 11 seed Texas.

So, maybe you shouldn’t sleep on Oklahoma. And if you must, record the game(s) so you can at least see true freshman Jeremiah Fears play. And if he continues with a late-season string of did-you-see-that performances, UCONN’s college basketball blue bloods could actually lose to Oklahoma’s blue bloods – football, softball, men’s & women’s gymnastics.