Why Oklahoma should remain No. 1 in spite of Monday's loss

Five days after ascending to the top of the polls for the first time in 26 years, Oklahoma could be poised to achieve another rare feat.

The Sooners have a strong argument to remain at No. 1 despite taking a narrow loss at Iowa State earlier in the week.

Oklahoma bolstered its case on Saturday with an impressive 82-72 road victory over a 13th-ranked Baylor team that began the day alone in first place in the Big 12. Only a meaningless 14-0 game-ending run from the Bears disguised how one-sided this one was.



Zone defense may be the signature of Baylor coach Scott Drew, but Oklahoma demonstrated that it has far too many lethal shooters and willing passers for that to be effective. The Sooners shot 62 percent from the field on Saturday by beating the Bears down the floor for transition baskets or raining down jump shots from behind the arc. Twenty-nine of their 31 baskets came via assists.

Oklahoma's victory improves its record to 16-2 and gives it 10 wins against opponents in the top 75 in the latest KenPom rankings. One of the Sooners' two losses came in triple overtime at then-No. 1 Kansas; The other came by five points on Monday night at fellow Big 12 contender Iowa State.

While second-ranked North Carolina (16-2) and fourth-ranked Villanova (16-2) both will undoubtedly receive strong consideration from voters for the No. 1 ranking if they also win this weekend, neither the Tar Heels nor the Wildcats have a better case than the Sooners.

North Carolina has fewer quality wins and its two losses against Northern Iowa and Texas aren't nearly the caliber of Oklahoma's. Villanova actually has a comparable resume to that of the Sooners, but it's tough to ignore the fact that Oklahoma clobbered the Wildcats by 23 points when the two met on a neutral floor back in early December.

Whether Oklahoma should remain No. 1 will be a spirited but ultimately inconsequential debate for the next 48 hours. What's actually more meaningful is the Sooners have put themselves into position to challenge for the Big 12 title and threaten Kansas' 11-year reign atop the league.

Not only is Oklahoma tied for first place in the Big 12, the Sooners are already done with their road trips to Kansas, Iowa State and Baylor. That gives them a huge advantage schedule-wise over any other fellow league title contenders.

Oklahoma is far from invincible. The Sooners don't have much depth beyond their top six or seven guys, nor do they alter enough shots around the rim or get to the foul line consistently enough.

But in a year when college basketball is loaded with good teams but lacks great ones, Oklahoma so far has been the best of the bunch.