NORMAN – Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) opens the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Thursday, March 10 against No. 2 seed Baylor (26-5, 14-4 Big 12). It marks the third time this season the two programs will meet and the Bears have been ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll in all three meetings.

Also, OU fans are confident that OU would make the NCAA Tournament with a win over Baylor.

On Wednesday, we asked fans of the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball program their thoughts on five different topics related to the program. The results are in, and the mood seems to be largely positive.

Currently sitting at 17-14 and lacking a “bad loss” on its resume, the Oklahoma are currently on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned, but hope remains for March Madness. The task is tall, but a win over Baylor would likely put the Sooners right back in the conversation.

Additionally, fans seem to be content with the overall direction of the program as Porter Moser’s first season approaches it’s end. With a good backcourt crop coming in this offseason and a decent amount of production returning, OU should be tough in 2022-23.

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OU will look to avoid a third loss to the Bears this season.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ flickering hopes for an NCAA tournament bid in Porter Moser’s first season as head coach have received a bump from conference tournament results this week. With other bubble teams like Wake Forest and Xavier bowing out early, the door has opened slightly more for OU. Still, if the Sooners (17-14) don’t beat Baylor (26-5) in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City on Thursday, they are NIT bound.

Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinal: No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Baylor
March 10, T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, MO)
TV: ESPN, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
DraftKings Line: Baylor -7.5, O/U 133.5

(Odds/lines subject to change. Visit DraftKings for more information.)

The odds of OU knocking off Baylor don’t seem good, as seen in the healthy 7.5 point line favoring the Bears. The defending national champions are again playing like one of the top teams in the country in the last month, winning their final five games of the regular season. Baylor ranks fourth overall in the kenpom.com’s adjusted efficiency metric and likely has an inside track for a No. 1 seed when the brackets for the big dance are revealed on Sunday.

The two meetings between Baylor and OU this season didn’t go well for the Sooners, either. OU gave a game effort in game one, an 84-74 loss to the Bears in Waco on Jan. 4. Baylor throttled OU, 65-51, three weeks later at the Lloyd Noble Center.

To be fair, Baylor isn’t the same team the Sooners faced in January. The Bears subsequently lost forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and guard LJ Cryer to injury. Coach Scott Drew has primarily rolled with a six- or seven-player rotation since then. The depth issues leave the Bears somewhat susceptible to foul trouble, which played a role in their last loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 16. They generally avoid fouls, though, with a defensive free throw rate comfortably below the national average.

Fundamentally, the Bears pose a terrible matchup for OU because they are among the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers. Baylor ranks 17th nationally in defensive turnover percentage and 14th in defensive steal percentage, according to kenpom.com. Unfortunately, the Sooners give the rock away at one of the highest clips in the nation, checking in at 347th overall in offensive turnover percentage and 346th in offensive steal percentage.

The pressure will be on OU guard Jordan Goldwire Thursday to manage the flow of the offense and avoid giving the ball away to Baylor’s pesky defenders. If the Sooners can cut down on completely wasted offensive trips and keep the Bears out of transition, a win here isn’t out of the question. More likely, a gritty effort from OU falls short.

Prediction: Baylor 69, Oklahoma 62

NORMAN – Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) opens the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Thursday, March 10 against No. 2 seed Baylor (26-5, 14-4 Big 12). It marks the third time this season the two programs will meet and the Bears have been ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll in all three meetings.

Thoughts on the impact of a new arena? What about OU’s NCAA Tournament chances?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Each week we ask questions of the most plugged-in Oklahoma Sooners fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

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Related Survey: Who will play in the Big 12 Tournament championship?

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