Katz thinks highly of OU

[OUstud]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaato...4007346#tabtop

No. 2 Oklahoma
How did the Sooners get here? Oklahoma outclassed Morgan State in the opener, winning by 28 and then holding off a gritty Michigan by 10 in the second round.

Oklahoma played some of its best stretches of basketball in Kansas City for the first time since national player of the year favorite Blake Griffin returned from a concussion suffered in late February. The Sooners looked the part of a potential national title team in stretches of the two games at the Sprint Center. They had the requisite balance needed to feel confident they can advance.

Who's hot? Griffin. The Big 12 has been on quite a run of late, with Texas' Kevin Durant and Kansas State's Michael Beasley as featured tourney players in consecutive seasons. But neither reached the Sweet 16. It would have been a shame if Griffin was out before the second weekend of the tournament. He has a shot to be in uniform when the awards are given out at the Final Four. Griffin poured in 33 points and grabbed 17 boards in the win over Michigan.

Who's not? Tony Crocker's offense hasn't clicked despite doing an outstanding job on Michigan's Manny Harris (3-of-9) defensively. Crocker was 0-of-4 on 3s and got his four points from the line in the win over the Wolverines.

What does this mean for the program? Oklahoma has a rich history in hoops and Jeff Capel has the look of a coach who isn't going to fade away, assuming he stays in Norman. But this is easily the best chance the Sooners have of winning the title since they were in the 1988 title game under Billy Tubbs. OU had to at least get to the Sweet 16 with Griffin still in the lineup.

Drama factor so far? There was some in the Michigan game as the Wolverines trailed by only one point at the half. OU started to click midway through the second half as it stretched a five-point lead with five minutes left into a seven- and then nine- and then 12-point lead over a four-minute period. The drama was when Morgan State's Ameer Ali flipped Griffin in the first round. Griffin's acrobatic move to land on his tailbone and not his neck was the most angst-ridden moment for this squad and its fan base.

[King Crimson]

i'd say right now, today at 10:39 MST...the 01 team had a better chance to win the NC. and probably the 02 team.

would LOVE to be proven wrong next weekend.

[badger]

In my wishful, spiteful, loyal-to-family, probably-won't-happen-but-I-don't-care bracket, I have OU winning it all.

Like I've said, I don't care if the Big East has five teams left, they started with seven or eight and have looked weak in victory (and overrated in defeat). As such, Syracuse in Memphis does not scare me as much as Syracuse in New York. WIN.

After that, it's likely UNC and if we play as hard as LSU, we will have a good shot of beating them too. Our early 2000's teams could beat the-other-fake Roy Williams (TOFRW?) when he was at Kansas, I see no reason why not here.

Then, Duke in the Final Four perhaps? Coach K versus Coack K-pel? The flashbacks to Jeff in a Duke uni might be too much to endure. At least Dickie V won't be calling that game.

Finally, either Memphis or L'ville in the championship game. I don't know if I could take two OU championship games in one year... the first one was really hard to watch. If the women make it to the last game too, I might not sleep for months afterward.

[soonervegas]

IF we somehow beat Syracuse and NC this weekend I will be convinced we are going to win the National Title as long as we dodge Louisville. The teams confidence will be through the roof if they pull off that two step.

[Taxman71]

If this team had a healthy Quannas White at PG, I would easily rank it higher than any of Kelvin's teams.

Then again, we would have easily beaten Indiana had Quannas been healthy back in 02.