When the brackets came out, I couldn’t help but notice a potential path of revenge that lay for the Sooners.

So far, the proper teams have won to give OU its shot at revenge.

Michigan outlasted Clemson 62-59, and the Sooners beat Morgan State 82-54 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, setting up a rematch of a 2004 game in which the Wolverines knocked the Sooners out of the National Invitational Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Saturday’s game between OU and Michigan was the first meeting since the Wolverines sent Kelvin Sampson and the Sooners home with a 63-52 loss, ending that season five years ago.

OU responded this time by pulling away early in the second half and hanging on late to defeat Michigan 73-63 and send the Wolverines home, this time on a bigger stage in the NCAA Tournament.

As figured, the Sooner guards had to step up against a Michigan 1-3-1 zone, similar to the last time the two programs met in the postseason.

This time, OU was able to muster enough points from the outside — including six combined 3s by guards senior Austin Johnson and freshman Willie Warren — to go along with sensational sophomore forward Blake Griffin’s 33 points down low, en route to defeating the Wolverines, shooting the Sooners into the Sweet 16.

Next on the agenda is a team the Sooners owe even more revenge: the Syracuse Orange.

The last time the two met, in 2003, OU was just one game away from advancing to the Final Four for the second year in a row.

The Sooners were led by a talented pair of OU guards in Hollis Price and Quannas White and were the No. 1 seed in the East Region.

But Syracuse forward Carmelo Anthony and the Orange doused any hopes OU had of advancing, defeating the Sooners 63-47 in the Elite Eight.

This time around, the No. 2 seed Sooners once again are presumably the favorite over No. 3 seed Syracuse in the South Regional Semifinals, and it will feature a similar matchup.

Syracuse brings its solid zone defense, and the Sooners must find a way to hit shots around the outside to beat the zone.

If a chance to knock Syracuse out and avenge a huge loss six years ago isn’t enough to motivate the Sooners, then nothing will be.

And there’s even another chance for revenge later in the tournament.

Should OU and Louisville both advance to the NCAA Tournament Championship, the Sooners would get a chance to defeat the team that knocked them out of the tournament a year ago.

So for now, the year of tournament revenge for the Sooners lives on, at least for another day.

-Joey Helmer is a journalism senior.