The Oklahoma Sooners are 1-0 as the get set to take on Northwestern State on Monday night. Now in the SEC, the Sooners have a new group of teams to keep an eye on in the weekly USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
No longer having to deal with the likes of the Kansas Jayhawks, who come in at No. 1 in this week’s coaches poll, one would think the schedule might look lighter. As the great Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend.” Big-time challenges await the Sooners in the SEC.
Coming in just behind Kansas at No. 2 are the Alabama Crimson Tide. At No. 4 are the Auburn Tigers who picked up a huge win over the Houston Cougars over the weekend. Also in the top 10 are the Tennessee Volunteers, coming in at No. 9.
The Sooners will open SEC play with a matchup in Tuscaloosa against Alabama on Jan. 4. They won’t play Auburn until Feb. 4 and will Tennessee four days later on Feb. 8. That will be the only time the Sooners face the SEC’s top 10 teams in this week’s coaches poll.
Oklahoma isn’t receiving any votes and will likely be a long shot to land in the Coaches Poll until they face better competition. Their first big test comes when they take on Providence on Nov. 27 in Norman. They’ll also host Georgia Tech at the beginning of December.
Full USA TODAY Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll
|
Ranking |
Team |
Record |
Points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Kansas |
2-0 |
759 (21) |
|
2 |
Alabama |
2-0 |
724 (4) |
|
3 |
UConn |
2-0 |
702 (3) |
|
4 |
Auburn |
2-0 |
660 (2) |
|
5 |
Gonzaga |
2-0 |
651 (1) |
|
6 |
Duke |
2-0 |
608 |
|
7 |
Iowa State |
1-0 |
576 |
|
8 |
Arizona |
2-0 |
516 |
|
9 |
Tennessee |
2-0 |
502 |
|
10 |
Houston |
1-1 |
488 |
|
11 |
North Carolina |
1-1 |
456 |
|
12 |
Purdue |
2-0 |
437 |
|
13 |
Creighton |
2-0 |
385 |
|
14 |
Baylor |
1-1 |
328 |
|
15 |
Marquette |
2-0 |
308 |
|
16 |
Indiana |
2-0 |
234 |
|
17 |
Cincinnati |
2-0 |
230 |
|
18 |
Kentucky |
2-0 |
182 |
|
19 |
Florida |
2-0 |
179 |
|
20 |
Illinois |
2-0 |
151 |
|
21 |
Arkansas |
1-1 |
150 |
|
22 |
Ohio State |
1-0 |
148 |
|
23 |
Texas A&M |
1-1 |
99 |
|
24 |
Rutgers |
1-0 |
84 |
|
25 |
St. John’s |
2-0 |
79 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 19 Texas; No. 22 UCLA; No. 25 Ole Miss;
Others Receiving Votes
Texas Tech 75; Ole Miss 60; Texas 54; Xavier 38; Oregon 37; Michigan State 29; BYU 29; UCLA 18; UCF 17; Wake Forest 12; Saint Mary’s 12; Kansas State 9; Clemson 9; New Mexico 8; Dayton 8; North Florida 7; Maryland 5; Providence 4; Mississippi State 4; Nevada 2; San Francisco 1; Grand Canyon 1;
List Of Voters
The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2024-25 season: Tobin Anderson, Iona; Adrian Autry, Syracuse; John Becker, Vermont; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Alvin Brooks, Lamar; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; Jonas Hayes, Georgia State; Alan Huss, High Point; Donte’ Jackson, Grambling; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Niko Medved, Colorado State; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Nate Oats, Alabama; Eric Olen, UC San Diego; Matt Painter, Purdue; Michael Schwartz, East Carolina; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Brett Tanner, Abilene Christian; Stan Waterman, Delaware State; Jeff Wulbrun, Denver.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Trio of SEC teams featured inside top 10 of USA TODAY Sports MBB Coaches Poll
