It’s absolutely the biggest game of the season for the Oklahoma basketball team.

     When Texas A&M comes to town tomorrow afternoon it’s a game that the Sooners must win. If the Aggies come away with a victory, OU’s hopes of getting an NCAA tournament berth is finished. The only way that could happen would be to win the Big 12 tournament. There’s little chance for that.

     OU must win two of its three regular season games to finish at 8-8 in the conference. The game against the Aggies and Missouri at home next week are the best bets. The Sooners travel to Oklahoma State next week, and the way the Cowboys are playing right now it will be very difficult to win in Stillwater.

     Offense has left Jeff Capel’s team. Two straight games of 45 points. That’s pretty embarrassing, not to mention the 12 points Oklahoma scored in the first half at Nebraska Wednesday night.

     When the Sooner guards play porrly, so does Oklahoma. Basketball isn’t that complicated of a game. You put the ball in the basket you have a good shot of winning. That hasn’t been happening lately.

      Also, Blake Griffin has to get more shots than anyone else. He’s the high percentage shooter. He had only eight shots against Nebraska. That’s not near enough. Of course it didn’t help him when he turned the ball over eight times. That’s unacceptable.

     The Big 12 will get at least five teams into the Big Dance. Right now Texas, Kansas and Kansas State are locks. It looks like Baylor has a decent shot to finish at 9-7 in the league. That will get the Bears into the tournament.

     If OU can finish 8-8 and win a first round Big 12 tournament game, it should get into the NCAA event because of its strength of schedule and its high RPI.

     The key against the Aggies will be the guard play. How will Austin Johnson, Tony Crocker and David Godbolt perform? If they don’t play well, say good-bye to the Sooners chances of getting into the NCAA tournament.

     Who would have ever thought that just a couple of weeks ago that Oklahoma State would be able to go on the road and beat Texas A&M and then come home and topple Kansas. I doubt if anyone believed that type of fairy tale.

     But that’s what has happened. What we are witnessing is a remarkable improvement with the Cowboys. Byron Eaton has looked like an overrated McDonald’s All-American for two and a half years. Now he is playing like one of the top point guards in the Big 12. How do you figure that one?

     Sean Sutton has to be breathing a lot eaiser these days. Even the most influential people who want him out of there, they simply can’t do it now. They would look like fools if they tried to push him out of his job.

     Give Sutton some time and he can get the program turned around. The aren’t that far away from being a very good team. They are playing like a cloose knit unit. More importantly they are winning the close games. That was something they weren’t doing earlier this season.

     And Jeff Capel has to be wondering what’s going on with his team. Really it’s not hard to figure out at all. When his guards play well, he has a really good team. When they don’t, well his club stinks.

     The Sooner guards played like they did at Colorado a couple of weeks again when it played at Texas this weekend. They couldn’t hit any of their shots. It’s a simple game. When the ball goes through the hoop you look pretty good, when it doesn’t you look bad.

     The Sooners have a monster game at Nebraska Wednesday night. If they win it they have a great shot of getting in the NCAA tournament. If they don’t they will be on a big time bubble.

    The dream for OU would be to finish fourth in the Big 12. That would give them an off-day during the first round games. The Sooners are currently tied for fourth place in the conference with Texas A&M and Baylor.

     And what has happened to the Aggies? In the last eight days they lose two home games to Oklahoma State and Nebraska and then get blown out at Texas. Not a good time of the year to be heading into the tank.

     Who would have thought last weekend that Oklahoma State would go to Texas A&M and upset the Aggies and that Oklahoma would travel to Texas Tech and give the Red Raiders their only home loss this season? That was some kind of surprise.

     Now if the Sooners or Cowboys win tomorrow it won’t be a surprise. It will be a total shocker.

     Both teams have difficult tasks. The Sooners are at Texas and the Cowboys get to host Kansas. No, it’s not going to be easy.

     Sometimes in sports it’s better to be lucky that it is to be good. OU has proven that the last two games. The Sooners could have lost those two encounters just as easy as they won them. There was the miracle shot by David Godbold against Texas Tech. Then there was that four point play by Tony Croker that gave Oklahoma that win over Baylor.

     If those games were losses, there wouldn’t be any confidence about getting in to the NCAA tournament. Now Oklahoma has to figure out how to win three more games in the regular season. If that occurs they are definitely heading to the Big Dance. The best bests are are home against Texas A&M and Missouri and on the road at Nebraska.

     The bottom line for this OU team is when guards Austin Johnson and Crocker play well, so do the Sooners.

     Sean Sutton has Oklahoma State playing well. He’s trying to make it as tough as possible for the higher-ups in Stillwater to get rid of him after the season is concluded.

     The Pokes definitely haven’t quit, like they could have a couple of weeks ago when everything was going badly. They have shown fight.

     Byron Eaton has been the key. He has suddenly developed into one of the best point guards in the Big 12. He is playing with a lot of confidence. And the Cowboy defense has gotten a lot better.

     As far as OU and OSU posting wins tomorrow? I just don’t see it happening. Both Kansas and Texas have too much talent for the in-state teams to pull out victories.

     It’s easy to kick a man when he’s down. But that’s exactly what I see going on these days.

     There are many Oklahoma fans who seem to delight in the problems that Kelvin Sampson has with Indiana University and the NCAA. I don’t quite understand why.

     Sampson did a great job coaching at OU. He missed getting into the NCAA tournament just once in 12 years as a coach in Norman. No other coach in Sooner history has that good of percentage.

      Yeah, there was the Final Four and Elite Eight appearances. Just how difficult is that to accomplish when you’re coaching basketball at Oklahoma?

     But let’s throw out the resume. That speaks for itself. Kelvin gave his heart and his soul to the school. He raised his kids here. He and his family loved the state of Oklahoma. He was a part of it. He did so many things good for the community.

     I’ll always remember when the late Dan Lutz was struggling with cancer. Sampson didn’t know him. But there he was visiting him in the hospital trying to bring him some cheer. He would do things like that all of the time.

     Sure Sampson got OU into a little minor scrape with the NCAA. He was making too many phone calls to recruits. He reasoned that everyone did it and it was no big deal.

     Not smart!

     Then he gets an opportunity of go to Indiana. It was a dream job. He was going to a lot better job for a lot more money. He was going to a place that actually cared about basketball. He was going to place where fans filled the arena. Wouldn’t most people take a better job for more money?

     Still, tears rolled down his eyes when he left. He was leaving a place with great memories.

     Now he is in hot water with Indidna. Once again there were too many phone calls. And he might not have been truthful to the NCAA.

     There are those who seem happy Sampson is in trouble. I am one who is not. When my friends get in trouble I try to stick by them.

     It’s a player that could really push Oklahoma into the elite among basketball schools next season.

     The Sooners are looking to come up with a big time point guard. That’s something that has eluded Jeff Capel since he’s been at Oklahoma. Austin Johnson has been up and down. Some games he’s good and some games he isn’t productive.

     There’s also some concern about Johnson’s health. Ever since he’s been at Oklahoma he’s been bothered by injuries. Currently back problems have been slowing him down.

     The point guard the Sooners covet is Kevin Galloway. He’s 6-6 and has all of the ingredients you are looking for. He’s an outstanding shooter and passer. And because of his size he’s an excellent rebounder.

     Galloway is a member of Southern Idaho Junior College, which is one of the best in the country. This high-flying team has already scored over 100 points in 16 of its games. It had a high of 160 points.

     If you put Galloway with Blake Griffin and incoming recruit Willie Warren, Capel could have something very special. But it’s not going to be easy. It appears that the other contenders are Washington State, Oklahoma State, Kentucky and UNLV.

     And don’t count Keith Clark out of the picture for next season just yet. Clark is currently enrolled at Rose State trying to get his academics in order. This week he was at an OU practice.

     There’s no doubt about Clark’s talent. He can do it all. The big question mark is will he work hard enough in the class room to take care of his academic woes.

     Sure there was no Longar Longar in uniform in Bloulder. And Keith Clark is no longer on the club. The problem isn’t up front. It’s what’s going on at the guard play.

     Earlier this year Oklahoma was beating the likes of West Virginia, Gonzaga and Arkansas. Sure, Blake Griffin and Longar were making plays. The Sooners were really good up front.

     But the guards were doing a really good job. Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson both looked like they had made a bunch of improvement from a year ago. They had become steady players. And they were making the clutch plays down the stretch of a game that were needed.

     Well, that’s a thing of the past right now. The OU guard play just isn’t very good. Opponents are giving them wide open shots, but they just can’t sink them. The play on the perimeter just stinks.

     It’s always been said that you have to have good guard play to go far in the NCAA tournament. Well, you better have good guard play just to get into it. And OU doesn’t and that’s why their NCAA tournament hopes are fading quickly.

     A player who would have really helped this team this year, is a guy most have forgotten about–Bobby Maze. Remember how he made some plays last year as a freshman? But he got into off the field problems after last season and Jeff Capel booted him from the team.

     Well Maze has become one of the top junior college players in the country. He is averaging over 20 points a game. And he has already signed a letter of intent with Maryland where he’ll play next season. The loss at Colorado was indeed an embarrassing performance.

     Oklahoma State’s performance at Kansas State wasn’t much better. The Cowboys were really sloppy. When you commit 24 turnovers against a good team, you don’t have a chance to win.

     You never can tell what you are going to get from the Cowboy guards. One game they might look terrific and the next game they don’t do a thing. Sean Sutton has to be really frustrated. This wasn’t what being a head coach was supposed to be like.

     It will be tough for Sutton to keep this team together. They know there isn’t a lot to play for. Probably not even the NIT.

     It’s obvious the Cowboys need to upgrade their talent, especially up front. But it has to be very hard for this current staff to convince a lot of top recruits to come their way with the uncertainty of Sutton’s future at Oklahoma State.

     It has to be considered a make or break game.

     Somehow, someway, Oklahoma’s basketball team has to find a way to win at Colorado tomorrow. A defeat would be devastating to its NCAA postseason tournament hopes.

     This is a bad Colorado team. The Sooners suffered a jolt when it lost a home game earlier this week against Texas.  OU has now lost two homes games this year. But it does own that road win at Baylor.

     This will definitely be the easiest road game the Sooners have the rest of the season. Colorado is a bad team, a very bad team. The Buffaloes are without a doubt the worst team in the Big 12.

     You can never quite tell what you are going to get from the Sooner guards. Somes games they are okay, while others they just don’t get the job done. There have to be points scored from this group.

     Jeff Capel is in a bind because of the injury to Longar Longar. He has little depth to work with. When you are playing only seven players, who know late in the game they are getting tired. That was evident in the last two games against Texas A&M and Texas.

     Also, the Sooners have to do a better job of getting the ball inside to Blake Griffin. He needs to be taking more shots than anyone else. He should be getting double-degit attempts every game . . .

     THERE HAS been some speculation that if Sean Sutton loses his job at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys might make a run at Bobby Knight. That would be a huge mistake.

     Yeah, Knight would bring a lot of attention to the Cowboy program. He has been one of the greatest coaches in college hoops history. But his greatness is in the past.

     OSU needs to look toward the future. If they axe Sutton, they need to get a young, energetic coach. I still think it’s a little ridiculous that Sutton’s job could be on the line.

     Right now it looks like the best the Cowboys can do in the Big 12 is go 5-11. That’s just unacceptable for a lot of folks in Stillwater. The next five or six weeks will be interesting for Oklahoma State hoops.