Sooners No. 2 in West; OSU, Tulsa also in

Sunday, March 10th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ When it was all said and done, beating top-ranked Kansas in the championship of the Big 12 tournament didn't do a thing to help Oklahoma's seeding in the NCAA tournament.

The fourth-ranked Sooners, who beat Kansas 64-55 on Sunday for their second straight conference tournament title, were made the No. 2 seed in the West Regional while Cincinnati got the top seeding.

The other No. 1 seeds, as expected, were Kansas in the Midwest, Duke in the South and Maryland in the East.

``I told our kids I thought we had earned a 1 seed by winning the championship, but I said ultimately the games are going to be decided on the court,'' OU coach Kelvin Sampson said from Kansas City, Mo. ``I'm not going to allow where we're seeded erase the memories of watching those kids climb that ladder and cut down the nets and winning the Big 12 championship.''

Oklahoma State and Tulsa also received NCAA invitations. The Cowboys are the No. 7 seed in the South Regional, and Tulsa is seeded 12th in the East.

Oklahoma (27-4) will play Illinois-Chicago on Friday in Dallas. The Flames (20-13) received a bid by winning the Horizon League tournament. Oklahoma State (23-8) plays Kent State on Thursday in Greenville, S.C. Tulsa (26-6) also plays Thursday, against Marquette in St. Louis.

Sampson said he knows nothing about Illinois-Chicago and little about either of the teams the Sooners would play if they win _ No. 7 seed Xavier of the Atlantic 10 and 10th-seeded Hawaii of the Western Athletic Conference.

``I really didn't pay much attention,'' he said.

What he did notice was that the Sooners get to play in Dallas, which he said is outstanding.

``There's probably a tinge of disappointment that we're not a 1 seed, but being a 2 seed in Dallas and having the opportunity to play in front of our fans, I think that supersedes any of the disappointment we might have had,'' he said.

Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said he thought the Cowboys might be seeded sixth, but that they apparently were hurt by their 22-point loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament.

``I think we were probably a little higher than that going into the Big 12 tournament,'' he said. ``But when you look at the field, beyond the first four seeds, I think from 5 all the way up to 12 there isn't much difference.''

The Cowboys have lost two of their past three games. Kent State, meanwhile, has won 18 straight and rolled through the Mid-American Conference tournament. The Golden Flashes are 27-5.

``I don't know a thing,'' Sutton said of Kent State. ``We'll know something tomorrow. But they've won 18 in a row, so they must be pretty good.''

Tulsa is in the NCAA tournament for the seventh time in the past nine years. The Golden Hurricane were left out a year ago after losing to Hawaii in the WAC tournament title game, but that didn't happen this time.

``I was just nervous about getting in and getting this opportunity,'' first-year coach John Phillips said. ``All the players and coaches are really thrilled about being back in and to have an opportunity to play against the best.''

Tulsa's first-round opponent, Marquette (26-6), was runner-up to Cincinnati in Conference USA tournament. Marquette is one of only three teams to beat Cincinnati.