Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway told his team before the NCAA Tournament field was released everything would start anew. The Sooners’ opponents would be nothing but names on scouting reports. No one knows anybody too well in the NCAA Tournament.

Then the three teams who would join OU in the Norman Regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park were announced Monday. Obviously, things changed.

The Sooners played every team in the field at least once during the regular season with varying levels of success. Familiarity, however, isn’t an issue with second-seeded Arkansas, third-seeded Washington State or fourth-seeded Wichita State.

“I guess in the end we made out a pretty good schedule,” Golloway said.

At least getting hold of a scouting report shouldn’t be a problem. The Sooners have plenty of information on the Shockers, who OU will face at 7 p.m. Friday.

Wichita State (30-25) is the Sooners’ biggest non-conference rival. The teams have played home-and-away games every year since 2003 and twice in the 2006 NCAA regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

OU dominated the series this season winning 15-0 at Wichita and 8-1 at home. By the Shockers’ lofty standards 2009 has been a down season. They had to win last week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament even to get into the field.

Wichita State did it despite being no-hit by Creighton in an 11-0 run-rule loss. It came back and shut out Illinois State 4-0 and the Blue Jays 4-0 to win the conference crown.

The Shockers, who are 230th in Division I in runs scored with 300, also took a hit in the conference tournament, losing shortstop Tyler Grimes to a broken wrist.

Clinton McKeever leads the Shockers with six home runs and 42 RBIs. Defense, however, could be the difference in what the Sooners saw in the regular season.

Tim Kelley (5-3, 2.64 ERA) didn’t pitch in either regular season meeting. He’s scheduled to take the mound Friday. The Tulsa native has pitched complete games in two of his last three starts.

Arkansas (34-22) was in contention to host a regional until a late-season dive knocked it out of contention. The Razorbacks lost five of their last six SEC series, but spent most of the season ranked in the Top 20.

One of the reasons was a victory over OU April 28 in Fayetteville. The win was typical of the Razorbacks’ season. Twenty-five of their 56 games were decided by two runs or less. Fifteen of those went Arkansas’ way. It also has eight wins against teams that are nationals seeds (five against No. 8 Florida, one against No. 7 OU and two against No. 5 Arizona State).

“We have enough pitching and we have a team offensively, that hasn’t done what it can do,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Whenever you hit a regional like this it can just turn for you. The guys who have been frustrated all year can take advantage of the opportunity. Guys can start rolling and anything can happen.”

The Razorbacks showed they have some thump in the lineup with Andy Wilkins. He’s hit a team-leading 15 home runs this season. He’s one of four Razorbacks who have hit at least seven home runs. Scott Lyons and Ben Tschepikow have both driven in 38 runs.

Dallas Keuchel is the Razorbacks’ best pitcher. He’s 7-3 with a 4.14 ERA.

Oddly enough, the Razorbacks also have a history with third-seeded Washington State (31-23). The teams opened the season against each other in February in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks swept the series, but all three were decided by two runs or less. They’ll play their fourth game when they open the regional at 1 p.m. Friday.

The Cougars might be the hottest team in the field. They finished second in the Pac-10 this season and have won nine of their last 12 games. Washington State took two of three from Oregon State and swept rival Washington to end the regular season.

The berth was the Cougars’ first in the NCAA Tournament since 1990.

“We are fortunate and blessed to be selected and we will be competing with three good teams in a tough regional,” Washington State coach Donnie Marbut said. “I am so happy for our kids and I am proud of them. Getting to the postseason is not an easy thing to do and our guys deserve it.”

There’s no doubt about that. The Cougars split a four-game series with the Sooners in late February.

Matt Way (8-4, 2.49 ERA) and Chad Arnold (7-3, 4.71 ERA) have led Washington State on the mound this season. Both are scheduled to start in the regional. Closer Jeremy Johnson was an all-Pac-10 selection. So was outfielder Jared Prince, who’s hitting .360 with 6 home runs and 36 RBIs.

John Shinn

366-3536

jshinn@normantranscript.com