It was the ultimate, had-to-have-it goal for Oklahoma heading into the system: Make the NCAA Tournament.

Mission accomplished. The Sooners were officially selected as a No. 9 seed in the tournament, it was announced on Sunday’s Selection Show on CBS.

The Sooners (20-13, 7-13 SEC) will head to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they’ll take on No. 8 seed Connecticut (20-13, 14-6 Big East) in the First Round of the West Region on Friday.

The Sooners are one of 13 SEC teams to be selected into the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners enter the NCAA Tournament ranked 44th in the NET Rankings with a 7-11 record in Quad 1 games — a big reason for their selection.

The selection marks the Sooners' first NCAA Tournament berth since 2021, breaking a three-season absence from the Big Dance. It's the first tournament berth for the Sooners under head coach Porter Moser, who is in his fourth season with the program.

The Sooners were desperate to make the Tournament following disappointing seasons in 2021-22 and 2023-24, when they were among the First Four Teams out in both seasons. They appeared to be doomed to the same fate this season back in February, when they lost five-straight conference games and dropped to 3-10 in SEC play. Most postseason projections had the Sooners on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament, particularly with a gauntlet schedule to end the regular season.

Instead, the Sooners dug deep and found some resiliency. They ended the regular season with a 3-2 record, which included wins over then-No. 21 Mississippi State (93-87), then-No. 15 Missouri (96-84) and at Texas (76-72). That win at Texas was huge, as it was Moser's first win against Texas and the Longhorns were also fighting as a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.

The Sooners' two losses to end the regular season? A three-point loss at Ole Miss and a one-point loss to No. 15 Kentucky, and both losses came on the final possessions of the game.

Things were still a little uncertain heading into the SEC Tournament this past week, but the Sooners calmed any uncertainties with an 81-75 win over Georgia in the first round. The win avenged their 72-62 loss to the Bulldogs back in January.

A big reason for the Sooners' resurgence has been true freshman Jeremiah Fears. Over the last seven games, Fears — a highly-projected NBA Draft prospect — is averaging 22.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He had 29 points in the win over Georgia.

The Sooners will now look to carry that momentum against a Connecticut team that has won five of its last six games.

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