University of Oklahoma Athletics
Mossman: OU Basketball Tradition
April 03, 2008 | Athletics
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Mossman Prophecies | Archive |
Came up with a new marketing slogan for the men's hoops team. See what you think ... "Oklahoma Basketball: Where Tradition Meets Ignorance."
We'll probably have to drop the word "ignorance" in view of its offensive nature, and in reality, such a slogan is far too sweeping. There are those who know the reality of Oklahoma's success rate. It's just that it's not recognized very often.
Tradition is defined by a lot of things ranging from championships to milestones and so on. But nothing so clearly defines tradition, a long-standing history of success, as wins and losses, especially those credited against peer institutions.
That brings us to this: among Big 12 Conference schools, only one holds a series lead over OU. That one is Kansas. The other 10 own losing marks again the Sooners.
The Jayhawks also are the only team to win the Big 12 Tournament more often than the three times it has been won by the Sooners.
The longest home court winning streak since the Big 12 was formed? That's the 37 by Oklahoma.
Sometimes tradition is measured by success against rivals. Oklahoma finished behind its in-state rival, Oklahoma State, just once in 12 years of Big 12 competition.
Want to take it national? OK. Over the last 27 seasons, Oklahoma has participated in post-season play 26 times. No program in America exceeds that figure.
Now let's be clear, there are schools in America with better basketball traditions than the one at Oklahoma. That's not the point I'm making here. Rather, the point is that OU has a basketball tradition, and a darned fine one; an under-appreciated one.
Why is it under-appreciated? That's a bit of a head-scratcher, but I suppose we have no choice but to recognize the shadow cast by Sooner football. It's easy to be distracted by a program of that stature.
Still, a distraction is just a momentary loss of focus. It cannot or should not lead to out-and-out ignorance.
The fact of the matter is that Oklahoma basketball
has earned so much more. Tip your hat to Carolina,
bow the knee to Kentucky, but when you're talking about
basketball tradition don't forget the one that resides
in Norman.
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Mossman Prophecies | Archive |
Read an inside perspective from the OU Athletics Department on the latest Sooner sports topics. Associate Athletics Director for Communications Kenny Mossman provides his thoughts in his online column at SoonerSports.com.
