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Even though the men’s basketball team won’t be participating in March Madness this season, one year after its magical Final Four run, the month’s not a complete wash for Sooner Nation. The NCAA announced Monday evening that the women’s team has earned a 6 seed in the Oklahoma City region.
Let the madness begin! Two wins to get back to OKC!!! No. 6 #Sooners vs. No. 11 Gonzaga Saturday in Round 1.
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) March 13, 2017
➡️ https://t.co/9mN4fPUUiF pic.twitter.com/ZHlR0s0bOe
The selection marks the 18th consecutive tourney berth for Sherri Coale’s squad, and the last chance for senior leaders like Maddie Manning, Peyton Little and Gioya Carter to make some postseason noise.
Unfortunately, the draw was not particularly kind to OU. To get back to home court in OKC, the Sooners must go through a tough No. 11 Gonzaga squad and then, probably, No. 3 Washington. Baylor is the top seed in the OKC bracket (UConn is No. 1 overall because, well, of course it is), and Oklahoma got absolutely throttled by the Bears for the second time to end the regular season.
In short, it would take a pretty crazy turnaround for the Sooners to make a Final Four run in this bracket. But Oklahoma has the talent to get to the Sweet 16 at least, and it’s a fun team to watch on its best nights.
The Sooners take on Gonzaga on Saturday, March 18 at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.