Oral Roberts not stunned by success

It wasn’t a surprise, but it was surreal. Oral Roberts expected to beat Ohio State and become the ninth 15-seed in the NCAA Tournament to ever beat a 2-seed, but its players didn’t think much about the aftermath.

They had seen many shining moments. They had seen many anonymous schools become household names. They had seen many under-recruited kids treated like kings.

Friday, they became Cinderella — and they will be forever.

“It’s actually crazy to actually be the one busting brackets,” said guard Max Abmas, the nation’s leading scorer. “[But] it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to us. We had confidence going into the game.”

Going into the second round, Oral Roberts is no longer alone in that feeling.

After notching the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 1974 — and the nation’s first 15-over-2 upset in five years — the Golden Eagles (17-10) will face No. 7 Florida (15-9) on Sunday night, with the chance to join Florida Gulf Coast’s 2013 “Dunk City” legends as the only 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16.

Maybe this time, Oral Roberts will even play up to its potential.

“I don’t want to come across as arrogant, but I didn’t think we played great,” said Oral Roberts coach Paul Mills.

The Gators, coming off an overtime win over Virginia Tech, present a familiar threat, boasting superior size and athleticism. But Oral Roberts’ greatest opponent is already being addressed.

“Don’t get distracted by texts and social media because this can all turn in 24 hours,” Mills told his team. “You do have to avoid the distractions. You do have to avoid some of this hype that comes with it. I’m just going to encourage them, ‘Don’t return text messages or look at whatever social media until Monday. Just wait. That stuff doesn’t need to be tended to right now unless it’s your mom or your dad or your girlfriend. You probably need to answer that one.’

“I clicked on ESPN today to see if they had the times for our games and we were on the front [page], so that’s not every day. That’s obviously different. Yes, I acknowledge that . ... There is a time to look back and reflect on this, but it’s not today.”

It’s difficult to pretend that shocking the world is pedestrian. It’s difficult to imagine a better feeling.

But Mills, who reached four Sweet 16s as a Baylor assistant coach, promised his players that there can be: “If y’all thought that was fun, watch what the feeling is like to go to the Sweet 16.”