It is now officially basketball season in Norman, Oklahoma as Lon Kruger takes center stage. Sporting an 11-1 overall record heading into the conference play, the Sooners cracked to the top twenty-five for the first time this season as the gatekeeper. Despite failing to appear in any contests over the course of the break, voters continue to reward the program for the previous effort.
AP Top 25 poll
First-place votes in parentheses
| TEAM | REC | LAST |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Duke (35) | 11-1 | 1 |
| 2. Michigan (9) | 13-0 | 2 |
| 3. Tennessee (12) | 11-1 | 3 |
| 4. Virginia (4) | 11-0 | 4 |
| 5. Kansas (4) | 11-1 | 5 |
| 6. Nevada | 13-0 | 6 |
| 7. Gonzaga | 12-2 | 7 |
| 8. Michigan State | 11-2 | 8 |
| 9. Florida State | 11-1 | 9 |
| 10. Virginia Tech | 11-1 | 10 |
| 11. Texas Tech | 11-1 | 11 |
| 12. Auburn | 11-2 | 12 |
| 13. Kentucky | 10-2 | 16 |
| 14. Ohio State | 12-1 | 13 |
| 15. North Carolina | 9-3 | 14 |
| 16. Marquette | 11-2 | 18 |
| 17. Mississippi State | 12-1 | 19 |
| 18. N.C. State | 12-1 | 20 |
| 19. Houston | 13-0 | 22 |
| 20. Buffalo | 12-1 | 21 |
| 21. Indiana | 11-2 | 23 |
| 22. Wisconsin | 10-3 | 15 |
| 23. Oklahoma | 11-1 | 25 |
| 24. Nebraska | 11-2 | — |
| 25. Iowa | 11-2 | 24 |
Rising two spots, Oklahoma now holds the No. 23 ranking and looks to improve upon the number with a date in Lawrence with the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks on January 2nd. Over the span of a week, Christian James and company will have faced three conference opponents and two top fifteen foes. It will certainly tell us a lot about the resolve of this Sooner program. Just how high is the ceiling?