NASHVILLE — Porter Moser slung his arm in the air and waved toward the Oklahoma band, cheerleaders and the smattering of players’ families and fans who made the trip.
As Moser took his seat on the SEC Network set alongside Sooners forward Derrion Reid, “Boomer Sooner” reverberated through half of Bridgestone Arena. On the Texas A&M side, you could hear a pin drop.
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New athletic director Roger Denny stood off to the side, pulled out his phone to video and began recording the scene — capturing a moment that would’ve felt unimaginable not long ago, when OU was in the middle of a nine-game losing streak.
Now, the Sooners suddenly look like one of March’s most dangerous teams.
OU stunned Texas A&M and the crowd on Lower Broad by steamrolling the Aggies 83-63 Thursday night in the second round of the SEC Tournament, picking up a Quad 1 win and continuing a surge that has turned a once-spiraling season into a legitimate NCAA Tournament push.
More: OU basketball batters Texas A&M in SEC Tournament, strengthens March Madness bid
Words like “unbelievable” and “crazy” floated around the hallway outside OU’s locker room as administrators and staffers tried to make sense of the stretch of basketball the Sooners are playing right now.
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Thursday night, it was never particularly close.
OU came out with vengeance, racing to a 49-27 halftime lead in its third matchup with Texas A&M this season.
“They got us two times, we had a little fight within us,” sixth-year guard Nijel Pack said in OU’s locker room afterward. “We know our season lies in our hands and we want to continue to play. We want to do something special.”
Four Sooners scored in double figures. Pack led the way with 20 points, while Xzayvier Brown added 16. Reid finished with 15 and Tae Davis chipped in 14. Jadon Jones provided the defensive spark and Mo Wague battled inside against one of the SEC”s most physical frontcourts.
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And with it, OU’s improbable run keeps gaining momentum.
As the final minutes ticked away, ESPN’s bracketologist Joe Lunardi told The Oklahoman that the win moved the Sooners’ up three spots in his projections.
“First team out (of the NCAA Tournament) until we see overnight numbers,” Lunardi said.
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 12: Jadon Jones #12 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second round of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
OU clearly sees itself as a potential bid stealer.
The Sooners might’ve already taken one from a team that played earlier inside the same building — Auburn, which OU beat by 12 points on Feb. 24.
Say what you want about Moser. Plenty have during his tenure.
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But right now, he has OU playing connected, confident and as well as anyone.
“They’re really scrapping to be right on the cusp of being an NCAA tournament team,” Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan said. “I think they’re really good.”
One of the biggest reasons showed up defensively Thursday night.
OU limited Texas A&M star big man Rashaun Agee to 13 points, with Wague holding his own.
Wague, who is fasting for Ramadan, has elevated his play the past few weeks. Inside the locker room, teammates have a nickname for the version of him that shows up every March.
“Ramadan Mo.”
“It’s working very well,” Wague said with a smile, adding that he prefers the late tipoffs so he can eat before games. “They told me if we won at Texas, all of our games would be after (sunset), so we had to get that one.”
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 12: Mohamed Wague #5 of the Oklahoma Sooners shoots the ball against Jamie Vinson #4 of the Texas A&M Aggies during the second half in the second round of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Inside the program, there’s hardly any talk about the NCAA Tournament.
Instead, Moser has hammered the same message for months: one game at a time, and eventually a path would reveal itself.
That message — “there’s a path” — once sounded almost impossible.
Now it feels prophetic.
“You can hear the noise right now, there’s a lot of teams trying to limp into the tournament,” said Moser, who once led Loyola-Chicago to the Final Four. “For years I’ve been in this profession. Constantly say who is playing the best right now.
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“This team has won eight out of 10 in the SEC, six in a row.
“But we’re not done yet.”
Next up in the quarterfinals: Arkansas, coached by John Calipari. The Razorbacks beat OU by just four points on Jan. 27, but this version of the Sooners hardly resembles the one from that night.
Right now, OU looks like a team nobody particularly wants to face. Moser has repeated another phrase to his players — a question he again delivered in the locker room after Thursday’s win.
More: March Madness bracket live updates: Where is OU basketball in latest bracketology?
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 12: Head coach Porter Moser of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second round of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Why not Oklahoma? It’s rooted in a proverb Moser reads daily: fall seven, rise eight.
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“To watch them just keep believing, we kept on saying you got to keep believing when other people don’t see a path,” Moser said. “We said over and over there’s a path.
“We lost nine in a row, we said there’s a path. We added the word ‘urgent’ in front of ‘path’. There’s got to be some urgency in that path.”
That word — path — has echoed around the program. Moser hasn’t stopped saying it and his players haven’t stopped believing it.
On the walk back from the SEC Network set to the locker room Thursday night, Reid brought it up to his coach unprompted.
How about that path now? Moser smiled.
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“It’s unbelievable what can happen when a group believes.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU basketball’s NCAA Tournament hopes surge with win vs Texas A&M
