Tulsa's Tournament Hopes
If Tulsa does indeed hang around the NCAA Tournament bubble, they will have to earn it. The conference slate is never easy in what has become a pretty tough and balanced Conference USA. However, the Golden Hurricane might be able to win the conference since they do not have to travel to Memphis, UCF or Marshall. That is a very nice schedule considering most expect the Tigers, Knights and Thundering Herd to compete, along with Tulsa, for the top spot in the conference.
Not having those road games may hurt the RPI a little bit, but Tulsa will have proven themselves earlier in the season with some tough non-conference games. The fun begins at the Charleston Classic where Tulsa faces Western Kentucky in the first game. They then would get either LSU or Northwestern. Tulsa should be able to beat WKU and that could set up a very, very early potential bubble game against Northwestern. After finishing off the Charleston Classic, the Golden Hurricane hit the road for three straight games at Jackson State, Missouri State and Oklahoma State. None of those games will be easy on the road, but Tulsa may need to win at least two of them to build up some decent true road wins.
Even when the team comes back home in December, the schedule does not get any easier. They host Arizona State, Wichita State and Creighton in a 16 day span. Wichita State and Creighton are both NCAA Tournament quality teams and Arizona State would provide a big name victory.
Unfortunately for Coach Doug Wojcik and his Tulsa squad, there is a lot on the line early in the season. They do return a bevy of very talented players, but this is a team without a leader and a point guard. If Donte Medder cannot stay healthy or it takes a little while for the team to adjust to life without Justin Hurtt, Tulsa could be out of at-large consideration before conference play even begins.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
