Brown, Isaacs, Reid, Rooths, Gak is a nice starting 5!

[cowboysooner]

I would take next year's team being as good as last year's team was over the last 15 games or so.

Hard to know until you have seen them play some, but on paper, this team looks like it will be better than last years team. Of course, that can be true and still have the same or worse record. Just like with football this coming year, the schedule will play a big role in the overall record.

Barring something completely unforeseeable, we will be better at the 5 (Gak is better than Wague). We will be deeper in the post (Yak, Rogers and Rooths). Probably about even at the 4 (rooth, mayfield and Reed vs. Davis and Reed). Probably about even on the wing (Hendricks, Wadley and Reed v. Jones and Reed) and better at guard (brown, forsythe, Pops and Wadley) v (Pack, Brown and Forsythe). Things will have to come together but I think our upside or ceiling at guard is way higher than last year. I would expect Brown, Forsythe and Pop to be improved and healthier next year and I really like the Wadley kid. He looks like a real talent. I also think our upside in the post is way way higher than last year. Wadley or Hendricks could start ahead of Pops but for some reason I think Pops play will have a decisive role in the success of the team. Just a guess.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Obviously, CBS sports is just one prediction but Nebraska was picked to finish 14th last year in the Big 10. No one really had Nebraska as a team to worry about either. Every year there are teams like that coming out of nowhere to "shock" the experts. That's just one example from last year. Hopefully this OU team has a more well-rounded team that fits well together and also shocks some people.

But nebraska's coach has a good body of work. Porter has 2 years basically.. I just do not believe there is any logical reason to expect porter to become a good coach randomly when hes actually remarkably consistent with his career's poor winning percentage (which is like 54-55%)

 

[hoopsaustin]

if we eek into the tournament next year i don't think it's a foregone conclusion at all that moser is gone.
our new incompetent ad kept him after another pathetic season so i think evidence points in the direction of him keeping moser again next
season if he makes the tournament.....regardless how low the seed is.

I fear you could be correct. A lot of it will depend on how our football season goes too..

 

[WichitaSooner]

I would take next year's team being as good as last year's team was over the last 15 games or so.

Hard to know until you have seen them play some, but on paper, this team looks like it will be better than last years team. Of course, that can be true and still have the same or worse record. Just like with football this coming year, the schedule will play a big role in the overall record.

Barring something completely unforeseeable, we will be better at the 5 (Gak is better than Wague). We will be deeper in the post (Yak, Rogers and Rooths). Probably about even at the 4 (rooth, mayfield and Reed vs. Davis and Reed). Probably about even on the wing (Hendricks, Wadley and Reed v. Jones and Reed) and better at guard (brown, forsythe, Pops and Wadley) v (Pack, Brown and Forsythe). Things will have to come together but I think our upside or ceiling at guard is way higher than last year. I would expect Brown, Forsythe and Pop to be improved and healthier next year and I really like the Wadley kid. He looks like a real talent. I also think our upside in the post is way way higher than last year. Wadley or Hendricks could start ahead of Pops but for some reason I think Pops play will have a decisive role in the success of the team. Just a guess.

If you took last year's roster on June 2 and compared it to this year's roster today2, last year's team would have been a massive favorite. You're doing what people always do -- assuming the best for the new guys while ignoring the fact that people had high expectations last year for JN, expected Dayton to make a big jump, and thought Kai would be a legitimate rotation piece. Add in the excitement for the four key transfers last season, and people were giddy about where we stood 365 days ago.

There is every chance that some of the new guys this year will flop, too. We are counting on guys to bounce back from bad years/injury (Pop and Dayton), make big jumps (Kai), or adapt well to a much higher level of competition (Hendricks, Yak). And we need Rooths to show he can handle a much, much bigger role than he ever had at Louisville.

 

[CoachTalk]

But nebraska's coach has a good body of work. Porter has 2 years basically.. I just do not believe there is any logical reason to expect porter to become a good coach randomly when hes actually remarkably consistent with his career's poor winning percentage (which is like 54-55%)

.570 vs .550. Let’s not act like Hoiberg is coach K…


If he was our coach. He’d been fired by many of you after his first 4 years.

7-7-10-16 wins.

Hoiberg as never been past sweet 16. Only 5 seasons with 20 wins.


I like Hoiberg. Just FYI!

 

[hoopsaustin]

.570 vs .550. Let’s not act like Hoiberg is coach K…


If he was our coach. He’d been fired by many of you after his first 4 years.

7-7-10-16 wins.

Hoiberg as never been past sweet 16. Only 5 seasons with 20 wins.


I like Hoiberg. Just FYI!

Hoiberg went to an absolute dumpster fire program. One of the worst in power conferences. If you take out those 4 ramp up years (I know, pretty convenient argument), then look what hoiberg's career win % is. And I think this is fair, bc if you take out pm's worst 4, he has the same career..

I dont agree. I think he would have had much more success in this 4 bad years. And I def would not have, I saw what he was building 1 year ago (when I posted on here he was my dream candidate) when he hadnt created nebraska's best season ever and shattering records (hoiberg is setting unprecedented positive records vs. Pm is setting the opposite).

No, he's had 7 20 win seasons. 6 of those were 23 or greater wins seasons.

Pm has had only 3 23 or greater, winning seasons.. (8 20 win seasons)

 

[cvangild]

Another post that coaching is brought up.....yeah!

 

[Maverick008]

It’s already been time to move on after last year. A 7 seed this year will not get them any credit from me, just buys another year. I’m sorry I’m being so negative, but year 6 shouldn’t be looking for signs of improvement.

I understand this thought process completely but don't personally feel that it fits today's college sports world. Each year is now completely different and not based on will guys improve that are returning for the most part. Look around the country and find teams that are returning even 6-7 guys at this point. That just doesn't happen for the most part. Yes, a select few still do that but even bluebloods are losing 5+ guys from the year before looking to play more or get paid more by a desperate team looking to upgrade. Improvement to me is now almost solely on record alone not on how "old" players improve.

This year's team will look a lot different than the last few years mainly because they should have 3+ bigs they can play that they didn't have the last 2-3 years. We'll see if it changes anything or if they were the right fit but then the following year at least 1-2 if not 2-3 of those guys are gone.

Record is the biggest thing anymore showing improvement and that's why I said a significant improvement in record. Another poster said squeaking into the tournament possibly will buy him another year and that speaks more to the AD than Moser. IF that's good enough for the AD then yes OU basketball could be screwed for a while. I'm under the impression that Denny didn't want to be too quick to judge Moser for the fact he hasn't been here for any of those years. However, he gives "new resources", lets him have another year and IF that is barely making the tournament or not getting in, I think he moves on. Especially if they limp into the tournament. There should be no more "prove it" years for Moser. The game has now been different for the last 2-3 years, if he doesn't get this year right, he should be done, JMO.

 

[Maverick008]

Hoiberg went to an absolute dumpster fire program. One of the worst in power conferences. If you take out those 4 ramp up years (I know, pretty convenient argument), then look what hoiberg's career win % is. And I think this is fair, bc if you take out pm's worst 4, he has the same career..

I dont agree. I think he would have had much more success in this 4 bad years. And I def would not have, I saw what he was building 1 year ago (when I posted on here he was my dream candidate) when he hadnt created nebraska's best season ever and shattering records (hoiberg is setting unprecedented positive records vs. Pm is setting the opposite).

No, he's had 7 20 win seasons. 6 of those were 23 or greater wins seasons.

Pm has had only 3 23 or greater, winning seasons.. (8 20 win seasons)

The 3 years before this past season for Hoiberg though were:

16-16
23-11(NCAA tourney)
21-14

Nothing there screams they are going to finish 28-7 which is why they were picked to finish 14th in the Big 10 in the pre-season last year. NO ONE really knows how to predict teams at this point because of how many changing pieces there are to all teams.

OU fans want to see 23+ wins a year and a 6 or better seed a year which is hard for a lot of teams to do consistently without the resources/money. Yes, coaching is a factor to an extent still but doesn't consistently matter if you don't have the players/resources to compete.

If we heard today that Bill Self was resigning from KU and taking over OU, I feel like a lot of this board would take that in a heartbeat. Self's records the last 3 years are:

23-11, 21-13 and 24-11 at KANSAS

The game today has wrecked a lot of good coach's and honestly forced a lot of them out of the game either to retire or to the NBA because it's so up in the air from year to year at this point.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Not cracking a top 45. Apparently national writers don’t realize we are 10 guys deep at the five.

 

[cvangild]

Interesting list. KU at 31! Also, Louisville spent A LOT of $ to only be at 17. I think our projected starters "can" be as good as any of those teams listed 35-45. We still have a lot of unknowns, so I get not being on this list. If Rooths and Gak can produce...this team will be interesting.

 

[Maverick008]

Not cracking a top 45. Apparently national writers don’t realize we are 10 guys deep at the five.

I mean finding pre-season polls that don't include OU to prove a point is cute and all but just for fun I checked out his pre-season poll from a year ago and he had the following teams in the top 45 (final season record):

#20- Oregon- 12-20
#25- Creighton- 16-18
#30- Washington- 16-17
#33- Mississippi st.-13-19
#34- Ole Miss- 15-20
#35- Maryland- 12-21
#38- USC- 18-14
#39- Marquette- 12-20
#43- Georgetown- 16-18
#44- Kansas St.- 12-20

ROTHSTEIN 45: Jon Rothstein's 2025-26 Preseason College Basketball Rankings

Jon Rothstein ranks his top 45 teams in men's college basketball entering the 2025-26 season.

www.fanduel.com

 

[WichitaSooner]

I mean finding pre-season polls that don't include OU to prove a point is cute and all but just for fun I checked out his pre-season poll from a year ago and he had the following teams in the top 45 (final season record):

#20- Oregon- 12-20
#25- Creighton- 16-18
#30- Washington- 16-17
#33- Mississippi st.-13-19
#34- Ole Miss- 15-20
#35- Maryland- 12-21
#38- USC- 18-14
#39- Marquette- 12-20
#43- Georgetown- 16-18
#44- Kansas St.- 12-20

ROTHSTEIN 45: Jon Rothstein's 2025-26 Preseason College Basketball Rankings

Jon Rothstein ranks his top 45 teams in men's college basketball entering the 2025-26 season.

www.fanduel.com

How about you try finding some evidence in the past few years of OU living up to the expectations of so many of you who always act like every transfer or incoming freshman we sign is better than all the national analysts think? Or find any reputable experts who are suggesting OU will be better than last year, which is what some of you seem to be arguing.

 

[OULad]

Guys, is this a starting 5 thread or bag on Moser thread?

 

[WichitaSooner]

Guys, is this a starting 5 thread or bag on Moser thread?

Relax. It’s the middle of the offseason and there is absolutely nothing happening. I don’t think it’s out of line for people to discuss Moser’s coaching ability in a thread that is more or less a discussion of what next season’s team will look like. It astounds me that people come to a message board and get so bent out of shape if every post in a thread isn’t 100 percent devoted to the exact subject line.

 

[daqman]

Guys, is this a starting 5 thread or bag on Moser thread?

can't it be both?
we know crup moser won't be able to figure out his starting 5 until late february after he's lost 10 in a row.

 

[Maverick008]

How about you try finding some evidence in the past few years of OU living up to the expectations of so many of you who always act like every transfer or incoming freshman we sign is better than all the national analysts think? Or find any reputable experts who are suggesting OU will be better than last year, which is what some of you seem to be arguing.

I think the main reason I tend to believe that OU could be better record wise is the depth just in height with proven type players they brought in this year. Guys that have played more major type basketball at Louisville, Oregon St., G-League and so forth are guys that have actually competed at a higher level and been at least solid. Not having to depend on 6'7 or 6'8 guys to defend/rebound against 6'10+ almost every game on a regular basis. Obviously, the hope is they have good enough guards/shooting to be well rounded but at least the FINALLY addressed the biggest need by most accounts from the last 2-3 years.

Let's be real, national analysts LOVE what you did for me lately which is why Nebraska is MUCH higher on that list compared to like #40 last year. There are those out there that are pretty easy for most of us to say yep they will be or should be really good (3-5). Then you have the I think they'll be good group then everyone else. In the portal era trying to guess a top 45 is almost impossible. There is no way on paper that Nebraska jumped 30+ spots if they don't finish with 28 wins last year and honestly that record means nothing for this team. What did the teams around them do? What is their schedule this year? Who did they get at home/away? Etc.... OU may not have a "better" team on paper compared to last year yet finish with 2-3 more wins based on all of those factors as well. Analysts get teams right and wrong all the time then act like they saw this coming either way.

My brain prefers to hope in the preseason that OU hit every nail on the head, and they all fit perfectly and are one of those the analysts look back on and know they screwed up when evaluating

 

[cvangild]

can't it be both?
we know crup moser won't be able to figure out his starting 5 until late february after he's lost 10 in a row.

Like I'm recommended before...simply have a thread that's dedicated to bashing our coach 24/7. Then the 5-6 of you can have a field day...as opposed to muddying up EVERY flippin topic that gets brought up. I wonder if we had a vote on it, what the outcome would be...

 

[hoopsaustin]

The 3 years before this past season for Hoiberg though were:

16-16
23-11(NCAA tourney)
21-14

Nothing there screams they are going to finish 28-7 which is why they were picked to finish 14th in the Big 10 in the pre-season last year. NO ONE really knows how to predict teams at this point because of how many changing pieces there are to all teams.

OU fans want to see 23+ wins a year and a 6 or better seed a year which is hard for a lot of teams to do consistently without the resources/money. Yes, coaching is a factor to an extent still but doesn't consistently matter if you don't have the players/resources to compete.

If we heard today that Bill Self was resigning from KU and taking over OU, I feel like a lot of this board would take that in a heartbeat. Self's records the last 3 years are:

23-11, 21-13 and 24-11 at KANSAS

The game today has wrecked a lot of good coach's and honestly forced a lot of them out of the game either to retire or to the NBA because it's so up in the air from year to year at this point.

Nebraska had TWO 20+ win seasons before hoiberg, over the prior 24 seasons..

two, now 3, in a row, is huge.

 

[soonertrash77]

Like I'm recommended before...simply have a thread that's dedicated to bashing our coach 24/7. Then the 5-6 of you can have a field day...as opposed to muddying up EVERY flippin topic that gets brought up. I wonder if we had a vote on it, what the outcome would be...

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