OOC games are always a crap shoot on what it actually means at the time. We thought our OOC schedule was going to be really tough, and it really wasn't. It kept us ranked high b/c we didn't have any stupidly bad teams, but those games are guaranteed wins just like many of our other OOC games were this year, even though they were treated as being tougher.
We all thought we were a lot better than we really were after our OOC games.
Conference play is a much better gauge. Those are your peers. Those are the teams you aren't going to surprise, b/c you play them all twice a year. Those are the teams that for the most part are going to show up every game against you, b/c conference standings and often times rivalry bragging rights are on the line. Often times, a bad Big 12 team is still better or comparable to most non-P5 teams, even the good ones. ND was dead last in the ACC. They gave OU everything we wanted on a neutral court, and they beat a pretty good Purdue team. Bad P5 teams are often better or comparable to good non-P5 teams. That is why conference play matters. It's the better gauge for where your program/team currently is.
It also matters b/c that reflects how you are playing recently. I think we all want our team to be be playing better down the stretch, right? Pretty tough to look great in OOC, be pretty terrible in conference, lose to the worst team in the Conference Tourney, THEN turn it on and make any kind of noise in the Dance.
I just want the team/program to be better. We've got to be better in the Big 12 than we've been the last three 3 years. I think we can all agree on that. My issues are more with the program in general than trying to just bust on this year's team. But this year's team is what we're talking about, and they are the present OU team, so sure, they are probably catching some of the crap that is really meant for the last three years as a whole, or the program. What this team accomplished this year is about what I called their ceiling during the offseason. But I think we were a bit lucky to achieve what we did. We weren't anywhere near as good as our OOC record, we got lucky with a couple of opposing teams late in the season missing key players, and we still made the Dance with what I believe is either the worst or one of the worst conference records of all time.
But again, my problem is with the program. Constant rebuilding and roster turnover. Inconsistency from year to year. The bad years being too bad. Too many project players that never contribute being recruiting. Going after too many athletes and guys with impressive measurables, and not enough true basketball players. Not being a "tough" team. That is important at a school like OU, b/c we're never going to consistently have elite talent. Being forced to play guys out of position (which hurts us against quality teams) b/c of recruiting issues and lack of development of several players.