Oklahoma covered seven straight to end the season, with senior guard Nijel Pack scoring 19-plus points six times. The Sooners face a depleted Colorado team that just lost three of its top four scorers as well as its leading rebounder and steals leader to the transfer portal. This number ballooned as a result of the Buffs' defections, but OU definitely is capable of winning this one by double digts.
The Crown Tournament is an 8-team, 5-day tournament that features an NIL price pool of $500,000. It tips off with Oklahoma and Colorado in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Arena. Oklahoma opened as a 5.5-point favorite, and it's up to 9.5 because Colorado lost its three leading scorers to the transfer portal. This is a Buffaloes squad that started 12-3 and finished 17-15. It's been over 2 weeks since the teams last played, but Oklahoma started figuring things out at the end of the year, covering their last seven games, winning six of them. They finished the year 19-15 and were one of the last cuts to miss the NCAA’s. Oklahoma to win by 10 or more.
This spread has climbed three points with the news that Colorado has three defections to the transfer portal. Perhaps it should have shifted even more. The Buffaloes are missing three of their top four scorers -- Isaiah Johnson, Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak. (Apparently, the NIL money promised to players was not enough to persuade them to hang.) Oklahoma's motivation is iffy, given that the Sooners were the last team to miss the NCAA Tournament cut. They finished strong, knocking off five Big Dance teams down the stretch, and are clearly superior to the stripped-down Buffaloes. Perhaps they have something to prove.
