Oklahoma will Win the NCAA Tournament - Reasons Why By Mike Hurley

The Oklahoma Sooners gained an at-large bid to the tournament after going 20-13 on the season. Here is why they will win it all.

They made it…it’s a start:  In order for great things to happen, you have to show up. For most schools, if they came in 13th place in their conference with a 6-12 record, the selection committee wouldn’t even give them a look. But this is the SEC whose teams have taken more than 20% of the available bracket spots in this year’s tournament. It took former Loyola Chicago coach Porter Moser four years to get Oklahoma to the tournament after taking the Ramblers to a Final Four and a Sweet Sixteen. But this team had seven Quad I wins, and they can hang with the best teams in the country (i.e. the SEC). 

Opponents will be shedding Tears for Fears:  18-year old freshman guard Jeremiah Fears is the real deal. Projected to be a top-ten pick in the upcoming NBA draft, this young man is quick and can score in bunches. He’s no longer a raw freshman. Playing a season in a crazy competitive SEC makes you mature fast. In the last eight games of the season, he averaged 22.6 points and 5 assists per game. And in the two biggest games of his young collegiate career during the SEC tournament, he averaged 28.5 points and 3 steals per game. Everybody wants to rule the world, but for teams in this tournament, they’ll have to go through Fears to get there. 

This is my fight song…about death:  Oklahoma has a few different fight songs that can easily intimidate opponents (I’m not including the pansy ass “Oklahoma!” song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical here).  In their “Boomer Sooner” song, they sing,

I'm a Sooner born and Sooner bred

and when I die, I'll be Sooner dead.

They ratchet it up in the “O.K. Oklahoma” song when they sing, 

Dig in and fight for the Red and White of Oklahoma,

So we'll take home a victory or die! 

Take home a victory or die? Oh, that’s good. I’m putting my money on the Sooners!!

Mike Hurley