When Oklahoma took a leap of faith to hire Virginia Commonwealth's Jeff Capel in 2006 to replace Kelvin Sampson, most Sooners fans were left wondering, "Who?"

Sure, we knew the Jeff Capel whose home run three-pointer sent a Duke-UNC classic to overtime. However, those of us who follow college basketball also knew that Capel's record at VCU was good but unremarkable. On the other hand, given Joe Castiglione's track record of pulling names out of a hat and finding gold (Stoops), we were all willing to give this guy a try.

And, we still are willing to give our coach some time.

But after Saturday's 66-62 loss at home to Stephen F. Austin, we now know where OU will be going in the postseason.

Nowhere. This isn't merely an average team; this Sooners' squad is flat-out bad. They have no identity inside with Longar Longar, a player who in all fairness would be a backup at most Division I schools. This team has exactly zero shooters, and their stellar recruit -- Blake Griffin -- has had only a couple of moments of brilliance in his freshman campaign, nothing close to his hype coming in to the 2007 season.

Capel got a giant pass in 2006-07 given that Kelvin's three top recruits opted not to honor their commitments to Oklahoma. Given the shadiness of our former coach's recruiting practices, it was just as well.

However, the 2007 edition of the Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team should have been an improvement on last season's bunch. And, they're not.

While Oklahoma has lost to a few teams it shouldn't have in two years, the Sooners have beaten not one team it shouldn't have. There has been no marquee win, no program-building effort and no sign that Capel even has a system in place offensively or defensively.

Even blowout wins over Tulsa and TCU this past week were, well, as unremarkable as Capel's coaching career thus far. It's not to say that the coach won't become one of the great ones eventually; I'm all about giving Capel plenty of time.

With only 4,400 in attendance for Saturday's game, Oklahoma hoops has fallen to its lowest point since the 1970s, if not earlier. Sure, the weather was cruddy on Saturday, but the fanbase isn't going to be willing to dish out $25 to watch a team that has no shot at a postseason.

Doesn't mean we don't root for this bunch; it just means the product on the court isn't matching the expectation. But I still endorse giving Capel as much time as he needs to get this program going.

At this point, given the lack of support for the team, we really have no option but to be patient. To fire Capel after only a couple of seasons would be nothing short of a red flag to any other coach who might consider a move to Norman.

However, the competitive college basketball world dictates that Capel's performance thus far, underscored by Saturday's loss, isn't merely unremarkable ... it's unacceptable.