Oklahoma opens Crown play against portal-ravaged Colorado

After being the top team excluded from the NCAA Tournament field for the second time in three seasons, Oklahoma coach Porter Moser wrote his team a note.

"Obviously you can be upset and point the finger at reasons why we got left out," Moser said of the note. "We can do that all day and trust me, I can do that all day, or we can prove (to) them why they made a mistake. With how we were playing, I thought we were playing as good as anybody down the stretch."

The Sooners eventually elected to continue their season in the College Basketball Crown, which begins with Oklahoma's matchup against Colorado on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

The eight-team, five-day tournament features an NIL prize pool of $500,000. The Oklahoma-Colorado winner plays either Baylor or Minnesota in Saturday's semifinals, then the championship game happens Sunday.

After a nine-game losing streak in SEC play, the Sooners appeared to be light-years from the NCAA Tournament.

But winning eight of 10 games put Oklahoma on the bubble. Then came a three-point loss to Arkansas in the SEC tournament quarterfinals that left the Sooners on the outside looking in. NCAA Tournament committee chair Keith Gill confirmed on Selection Sunday that the Sooners (19-15) were the first team left out.

The Buffaloes opened this season 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12, but they stumbled through the second half of the season to enter the Crown at 17-15.

Now head coach Tad Boyle must stumble upon a new rotation. Leading scorer Isaiah Johnson (16.9 ppg), Sebastian Rancik (12.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Bangot Dak (11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) each have announced plans to enter the transfer portal.

"They're going to move on, and we're going to move on," Boyle said, per the Boulder Daily Camera. "Onwards and upwards."

That leaves point guard Barrington Hargress, who recently declared he will return for his senior season, as the team's lone double-figure scorer (14.2 ppg, 4.5 apg) as the Buffaloes attempt to improve on last year's first-round Crown exit.

The Sooners will be without a pair of bench players for the tournament.

Jeff Nwankwo (2.9 ppg) isn't playing due to an "internal team matter," Moser said, while Dayton Forsythe (5.3 ppg) elected to undergo ankle surgery after Oklahoma missed out on the NCAA Tournament.

Oklahoma likely will lean on its productive backcourt of Nijel Pack (16.5 ppg, 3.0 apg) and Xzayvier Brown (15.3, 3.2 apg).