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Some Love for ORU
Published: 3/4/2012 1:30 PM
Last Modified: 3/4/2012 1:30 PM

Oral Roberts better concentrate on winning the Summit League Tournament but the Golden Eagles are getting some love from college basketball analysts.
ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb, one of college basketball’s top analysts, started pushing ORU has a possible at-large NCAA team this weekend and some others are starting to follow.
CollegeRPI.com now has ORU up to 39th in its latest RPI ratings. That puts ORU squarely in the discussion.
Oral Roberts, who will play in the Summit League semis on Monday, has been frequently mentioned as one of the mid-majors that should be watched closely if the Golden Eagles reach the NCAA Tournament.
ORU is a dangerous team, capable of a major upset depending on the matchup. It is believed the Golden Eagles would be a 12 or 13 seed if they reach the NCAA Tournament.
However, now people are starting to talk about ORU as an at-large team if ORU fails to win the Summit League.
That’s what happens when your RPI dips into the 30s. That puts you in the discussion with all types of at-large possibles including those from power conferences like Kansas State, Texas and Northwestern.
It would be best for ORU to win the Summit League and take the guesswork out of it.
However, it is a tribute to ORU’s courage to take on a challenging non-conference schedule and consistency in the league regular season that it is now being talked about as an at-large team.



Reader Comments 1 Total
JS (12 months ago)
Ask Missouri State about how much good a lofty RPI does for a team from a secondary conference. In 2006 they had an RPI of 21 and were left off the list. Former ORU coach Barry Hinson had them playing at an elite level, but to no avail. ORU needs to win their conference tournament or it's hello, NIT.
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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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