MEN'S BB: OU vs. Texas Preview

Oklahoma and Texas meet for the third time this season, this time with a spot in the Big 12 Championship title game on the line.

Oklahoma looks to increase its NCAA Tournament stock today when it takes on Texas at 1 p.m. in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship at the Spirit Center in Kansas City.

The Sooners are coming off a 54-49 victory over 12th-seeded Colorado on Friday while top-seeded Texas eliminated Oklahoma State 66-59.

The winner will advance to Sunday’s 2 p.m. championship game against either No. 2 seed Kansas or No. 6 seed Texas A&M.

This will be the third meeting this season between the fourth-seeded Sooners and the Longhorns, both wins for Texas (64-54 in Norman on Feb. 6 and 62-45 in Austin on Feb. 23). In fact, Texas has won the last five meetings, all by double digits.

However, Oklahoma owns a 4-1 advantage over Texas in Big 12 Championship play, including 3-0 in the semifinals with a 15.0-point average victory margin.

This is Oklahoma’s eighth appearance in the semifinals. The Sooners have advanced to the championship game five times and won it thrice (2001, 2002, 2003).

All of Oklahoma’s Big 12 Championship games will air live on the Sooner Basketball Radio Network (flagship KOKC 1520 AM in Oklahoma City) with Bob Barry, Sr. (play-by-play) and Mike Houck (analyst) calling the action. Saturday’s semifinals contest will be televised by ESPN Plus (KOCB Channel 34, Cox 11 in Oklahoma City; KJRH Channel 2/Cox 9 in Tulsa) in the Big 12 region and by ESPN2 outside of it. Sunday’s championship game will be shown nationally by ESPN.