Published: October 08, 2008 12:53 am            

Coaches like Sooners on top

If Oklahoma wins its first Big 12 basketball title since 2005, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. The conference’s coaches have decided it’s the likely scenario for this coming season.

The Sooners received three first-place votes and a total of 109 points in the conference’s annual preseason poll to edge second-place Texas. The Longhorns captured four first-place votes and 107 total points. Teams received 12 points for a first-place vote, 11 points for a second-place vote, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote on the poll placement of their own team.

It marked the first time the Sooners will enter the season as the Big 12’s favorite. The league’s coaches have picked the Sooners to finish second four times (1997-98, 2000-01, 2002-03 and 2005-06).

Trailing OU and Texas in this year’s poll are Baylor (two first-place votes) and Kansas (three) with 103 points each, Texas A&M (79 points), Oklahoma State (69), Missouri (51), Kansas State (50), Nebraska (49), Texas Tech (39), Iowa State (20) and Colorado (13).

“It’s going to be a very tight Big 12 race this season,” OU coach Jeff Capel said. “The coaches poll is a perfect example of the depth of our conference. We are looking forward to an exciting league race.”

OU, which starts practice Oct. 17, is coming off a 23-12 season in which it tied for fourth in the Big 12 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners return four starters from that team, including sophomore forward and preseason first-team All-American Blake Griffin.

Last year, Griffin averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds to become the first OU freshman in 25 seasons (Wayman Tisdale, 1983) to earn first-team all-conference honors. He will be joined by fellow returning starters Tony Crocker (11.4 ppg), Austin Johnson (8.6 ppg) and Taylor Griffin (6.5 ppg). Together, the Sooners return 69 percent of their scoring from last year, 68 percent of their rebounding and 72 percent of their assists.

OU has also brought in seven newcomers, including McDonald’s All-America guard Willie Warren.

“It’s nice to be recognized in October, but we’re much more interested in where we’re standing five months from now,” Blake Griffin said. “It will mean a lot more if we’re on top of the Big 12 when the season ends. We have a lot of talent, but we also have a lot of work to do.”

OU opens the regular season with a Nov. 14 home game against 2008 NCAA Tournament participant American. That contest will be preceded by a pair of home exhibition games on Nov. 5 against Panhandle State and Nov. 8 against Cameron.

        

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