Sooners Awarded NCAA No. 6 Seed

March 16, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - Jeff Capel's University of Oklahoma men's basketball team is slated as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will take on No. 11 seed Saint Joseph's (21-12) on Friday in Birmingham, Ala., as part of the East Regional. Tip time has been set for 6:10 p.m. CDT.

If OU wins its first-round game, it will play Sunday at approximately 4 p.m. against the winner of Friday's contest between No. 3 seed Louisville (24-8) and No. 14 seed Boise State (25-8). Games will be played at BJCC arena.

The Sooners, who own a 22-11 record and finished in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference with a 9-7 mark, are making their 25th NCAA Tournament appearance and 12th in the last 14 years.

"We're really happy, really excited and really anxious to get going," said Capel, who is in his second season at Oklahoma. "We know who we're playing, we know we're in and we know where we're playing, so we're just excited to get going.

Selection Sunday Multimedia

Complete NCAA Tournament Bracket

Coach Capel on OU's NCAA Tournament Selection

Taylor Griffin on Earning the No. 6 Seed

Longar Longar on Returning to the Big Dance

Blake Griffin on Playing St. Joe's in the First Round

"I have a lot of respect for St. Joe's," contined Capel. "I've known Coach (Phil) Martelli for a while. When I was an assistant for my dad at Old Dominion we played them. That was when Jameer Nelson was a freshman. He's one of the better coaches in the country. They're a hot team right now and they lost a heartbreaker last night. It's going to be a big game for us. We'll be anxious to get going."

Leading the Sooners into the Big Dance will be freshman first-team All-Big 12 selection Blake Griffin. The 6-10, 243-pound forward is averaging 15.0 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting .559 from the field. He has 10 double-doubles on the year, seven of which have come against teams that have been ranked at some point during the season.

Capel and Player Quotes

Said Griffin about OU's selection as a No. 6 seed, "I wasn't even looking when our name first came up. I heard other people say something and I looked up. I was pretty surprised that we were a six seed. I was happy for a six seed. I was looking for a seven, but six is even better.

"We'll get prepared for this whole week and take it one game at a time. It means a lot, especially because of last year. This time last year, our season was over."

Oklahoma and Saint Joseph's have never met.

OU, which has won four of its last five games and seven of its last 10, owns a 32-24 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and has made four Final Four appearances (1939, 1947, 1988 and 2002). It reached the national championship game in 1947 and 1988.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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