Oklahoma should stay No. 1 despite a loss this week

Oklahoma should remain No. 1 in the men's basketball polls — despite its loss at No. 21 Iowa State earlier this week. After trouncing No. 15 Baylor, 82-72, on the road Saturday in a game that was never as close as its final margin indicates, this should be an easy call for voters.

Baylor is a very, very good team, and the Sooners shredded them in every way possible offensively and in transition. Even with national player of the year contender Buddy Hield sitting on the bench in foul trouble in the first half, Oklahoma padded a lead behind Jordan Woodard that would only grow throughout the game. The Sooners had 29 assists on 31 made field goals in a beautiful, efficient offensive performance. Oklahoma made 16 threes, shooting better than 60% from beyond the arc.

This college basketball season has been wild and unpredictable. Five different teams have been ranked No. 1, but all of the top teams have been inconsistent at times. So, why not keep Oklahoma up there? Its résumé is still better — and it has the two most best losses of the season, to Kansas in the triple-overtime thriller and at Iowa State — than the two other contenders for No. 1 this week, North Carolina and Villanova.

Besides, If the Sooners keep playing like this, they will be the team that ends Kansas's Big 12 regular-season championship streak. That's one of the reasons Hield returned for his senior season — for a shot to do just that. Though the Jayhawks are, in my ways, very similar to Oklahoma in that they are veteran-laden and full of talent (although they're still figuring out how to use/get the most out of Cheick Diallo) they could be knocked from their throne. It would take a team that's well-rounded and full of weapons to do it ... just like Oklahoma.

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