Semifinal Showdown Set in Kansas City: #1 Oklahoma vs. #4 Iowa State

NORMAN – Big 12 regular season champion Oklahoma will try to punch a ticket to its first Big 12 Championship final since 2010 on Monday. The top-seeded Sooners (22-8, 15-3 Big 12) take on No. 4 seed Iowa State (19-10, 12-6 Big 12) in the semifinal at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Oklahoma defeated ninth-seeded TCU, 69-53, in Saturday's quarterfinal to secure its spot in the semis. The 2024 championship marks the first time in the Big 8 or Big 12 era that OU has played the same teams in back-to-back championships as the Sooners took on TCU and Iowa State at the 2023 Championship.

The Cyclones knocked off fifth-seeded Baylor, 67-62, in Saturday's quarterfinal.

The championship is held at T-Mobile Center in downtown Kansas City for the first time after spending the last three seasons at Municipal Auditorium. Oklahoma has won the league's postseason championship four times: 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007. After winning the league's regular season crown outright, Oklahoma enters the championship as the No. 1 overall seed for the first time since 2009 and sixth time in program history.

THE STARTING FIVE

The championship's top seed has made the final in 12 straight Big 12 Championships, and the last time it didn't was the 2010 final between #3 Oklahoma and #4 Texas A&M. The Sooners dropped that final vs. the Aggies and are 0-6 in semifinals game since the 2010 season.
Oklahoma produced the league's Co-Player of the Year (Skylar Vann), Coach of the Year (Jennie Baranczyk), Newcomer of the Year (Payton Verhulst) and landed four All-Big 12 honorees: Vann (unanimous 1st team), Verhulst (1st team), Tot (honorable mention) and Williams (honorable mention). Oklahoma's two first-team selections were tied for a league-high.
Oklahoma's outright championship was the program's first since 2009, as the Sooners shared the regular season crown last season with Texas. The Sooners have now won nine total regular season conference titles (8 Big 12, 1 Big 8) as Oklahoma's eight Big 12 titles are the second most in conference history. The Sooners have won a combined 73 games in head coach Jennie Baranczyk's first three seasons, the best stretch at OU since 2008-10 (81 wins, two Final Fours).
A win would mark Oklahoma's first win in a Big 12 Championship semifinal since 2010, snapping a six-game losing streak in the championship's penultimate game.
Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Payton Verhulst is the only player in the country to average 12.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 4.0 APG in under 30 MPG. She is the fourth Sooner to win the league's Newcomer of the Year Award and earned All-Big 12 first-team honors this season.

SERIES HISTORY

Monday is the 75th meeting, and final as Big 12 foes, between Oklahoma and Iowa State. The Sooners lead the all-time series 43-31, including a win in Ames on Feb. 10.

Oklahoma is 0-2 all-time in Big 12 Championship semifinals vs. ISU, losing in 2023 and 2013.

UP NEXT

With a win, Oklahoma would advance to its seventh Big 12 Championship final and first since 2010. The Sooners would take on No. 2 seed Texas or No. 3 Kansas State at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the final airing nationally on ESPN2.

A loss would send the Sooners home, awaiting their fate on Selection Sunday (March 17), when the NCAA Selection Committee unveils the bracket on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT.