In the last two-plus weeks, the Oklahoma men have gone from unranked all the way the No. 12 in the national rankings. powered by road wins over then-No. 25 Southern California and, a week later, over No. 3 Wichita State.
The Sooners advanced to No. 17 after beating Wichita State, and advanced five more spots after throttling Northwestern 104-78 at Lloyd Noble Center last Friday. Northwestern was an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, and the Big Ten school began the current season ranked 19th in the AP College Basketball Preseason Poll.
Everybody knew Oklahoma was going to be much improved with an added year of experience by a very young Sooner squad, but mostly because of the addition of one of the top recruits in the country in freshman sensation Trae Young, who grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, in the shadow of the Lloyd Noble Center.