The 2021 NCAA Tournament is off and running as one of the greatest events in sports has finally returned after its one-year hiatus with the 2020 edition being canceled at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first full day of action is already in the books and it provided loads of great finishes and stunning upsets that the event always manages to provide.
Day two will feature the No. 9 seed Oklahoma Sooners (15-10, 9-8) beginning their attempt at a national title run on Saturday against the No. 8 seed Missouri Tigers (16-9, 8-8) out of the SEC. Of course, while the two are in different leagues now, they have loads of history against one another from Missouri’s days in the Big 12. It will be an old rivalry rekindled on the biggest stage in the sport.
This will be the 212th all-time meeting between the two programs, with the Sooners having taken 114 of the first 211 for the series advantage. The two teams actually met early last season, with Lon Kruger’s club getting the win in Kansas City by a final of 77-66.
Oklahoma comes into March Madness not playing their best ball of the season by any stretch, having dropped five of their last six games of the season. Things won’t be any easier in this game either, as the Sooners will be without second-leading scorer De’Vion Harmon after he tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
The Tigers enter the tournament on a somewhat similar note having dropped three of their last five before entering the bubble. These two teams have largely followed a similar script all season with both achieving a top-15 ranking earlier in the season before slipping down the stretch to a middle of the pack team in their conferences and in the seeding for the NCAA Tournament. Even without Harmon, this game feels mostly like a toss up.
For the this first round Big 12/SEC clash, here is everything you need to know:
WHEN: 6:25 p.m. CT (Approximately)
WHERE: Indianapolis, Indiana (Lucas Oil Stadium)
HOW TO WATCH: TNT (Tom McCarthy, Avery Johnson & Lauren Shehadi)
HOW TO LISTEN: Sooner Radio Network – KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App (Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry)