Can Tulsa Become a Bracket Buster? The Metrics Say Yes
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are 10-1 to start their year and their offensive metrics have them soaring in KenPom. Can Tulsa emerge as a Bracket Buster in 2026?
🚨 Tulsa is back, and the metrics say this isn’t a fluke.
Tulsa basketball hadn’t finished in the top 100 of KenPom since the 2019–20 season, and just two years ago the Golden Hurricane won five games. Now, Tulsa sits at 10–1 and inside the top 80 nationally, with Eric Konkol finally seeing a breakthrough in year four.
After returning just 9.8% of last season’s minutes, Tulsa hit the reset button and completely rebuilt its roster, and the payoff has been immediate.
The turnaround is powered by a trio of impact transfers: Miles Barnstable (St. Thomas), David Green (Rhode Island), and Tylen Riley (Cal Baptist). Barnstable has been one of the most efficient scorers in the country, while Green and Riley provide physicality, shot creation, and an elite ability to get to the free throw line. Tulsa now ranks in the top 15 teams nationally in effective field goal percentage and top five in three-point shooting, thriving in a slower, spacing-heavy offense that remains similar to Konkol’s best Louisiana Tech teams. With the American wide open and Tulsa’s only loss coming by one point at Kansas State, this looks like a legitimate bracket buster in the making.
👉 Watch our full breakdown on why Tulsa is quietly becoming one of the most dangerous teams in the American.