Even match between OU and Miss.

No. 9 seed Oklahoma and No. 8 seed Mississippi seem evenly matched for their first-round game in the NCAA Tournament Friday.

OU plays Ole Miss at 11:40 a.m. Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, in a game televised by truTV. Whoever wins the Friday game will face the winner of the Friday game between No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb.

Sooner fans were a bit worried that OU (19-13, 7-11 in Big 12 play) wouldn’t get an at-large bid because they won only 7 games in league competition. A first round loss to West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament was also a cause for concern.

West Virginia edged Oklahoma 72-71 in the Big 12 Tournament when the OU’s Christian James had his foot on the three-point line when he hit a shot that would have sent the game into overtime.

Brady Manek scored 22 points and Kristian Doolittle had 18 for the Sooners.

The Selection Committee rewarded Oklahoma with a No. 9 seed based on their entire schedule.

 “I had no idea what to expect,” OU coach Lon Kruger said about getting a No. 9 seed. “The NCAA gives you a blueprint on how to schedule and what to do to give yourself your best chance as an at-large.

“The committee said every game counts equally and they stood by their word…It played out like the won-loss record would indicate per strength of schedule.”

On Monday, Kruger said he had not seen much of Mississippi this season.

In his first year at Mississippi, SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis went 20-12 – compared to 12-20 last season. That was the biggest turnaround this season for a Power 5 school.

Davis coached 16 years at Middle Tennessee State. Davis got a two-year show cause penalty for recruiting violations after his one season as Texas A&M’s coach in 1990-91.

Mississippi had a lop-sided loss to Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

“You’re going to play a team that’s good,” Davis said. “It still leads up to preparation. You can’t skip to the games. You still have to go through that same preparation but keep these guys fresh-minded and anxious to play on Friday.”

The Rebels are led by two All SEC guards, Breein Tyree and Terence Davis.

Mississippi was No. 36 and OU No. 37 in the NET rankings. The Rebels have only been to the NCAA Tournament eight times and managed to get to the Sweet Sixteen only once (2001).

Among common opponents, Mississippi lost to Iowa State and Florida but beat Baylor and Vanderbilt. OU lost twice to both Iowa State and Baylor but beat Florida and Vanderbilt.

OU and Mississippi have played three times in three straight years (1999-01) and the Rebels lead 1-2.

Kruger has taken Oklahoma to the NCAA Tournament in six out of the last seven years with a 6-5 record. It is the 32nd appearance for the Sooners, including 27 in the past 36 years. Kruger has coached a team in the tournament 19 times and is the first Division 1 coach to take five different schools to the tournament and win at least one game. He is one of only three head coaches to ever lead four schools to multiple NCAA Tournament wins.

Oklahoma has reached the Final Four five times (1939, 1947, 1988, 2002 and 2016). Oklahoma has nine Elite Eight showings and 11 Sweet 16 appearances.

Oklahoma was led Kristian Doolittle, who was recently named the recipient of the inaugural Big 12 Most Improved Player Award, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Doolittle was also named to the All-Big 12 Third Team alongside senior guard Christian James while sophomore forward Brady Manek received All-Big 12 Honorable Mention recognition.

Tech, ISU, Houston play in Tulsa

Fans who attend the NCAA first-round games in Tulsa will see some familiar teams and faces.

Concern about attendance might not be a problem because the field includes Texas Tech and Iowa State from the Big 12; a Houston team coached by former OU coach Kelvin Sampson; traditional powerhouse Ohio State; either Arizona State or St. John’s, among others.

Texas Tech was a co-champion of the Big 12 and Lubbock is only 450 miles from Tulsa. Ames, Iowa, is 475 miles from Tulsa and Houston is about 500 miles away.

Tournament play in Tulsa begins this Friday with four first round games, while the two second round games will be played on Sunday.

The schedule on Friday is:

• 12:30 p.m. – No. 3 seed Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Northern Kentucky on TNT
• 3 p.m. – No. 6 seed Buffalo vs. the winner of the Arizona State/St. John’s play-in game on TNT
• 6:20 p.m. – No. 3 seed Houston vs. No. 14 Georgia State on TBS
• 8:50 p.m. – No. 6 seed Iowa State vs. No. 11 seed Ohio State on TBS