Tough Big 12 Schedule Will Make or Break Oklahoma State's Season
Conference games start in less than two weeks for Oklahoma State, and the Big 12 will be challenging to navigate.
For a number of years, the Big 12 has been considered the toughest conference in college hoops. This season appears no different, particularly with some of the new additions.
The most notable of those additions is the Houston Cougars, a team the Cowboys have faced in nonconference competition in recent years and will face once on the road this season. The Cougars have a legitimate case for being the best team in the country, winning their first 12 games and owning the No. 3 ranking in the AP Poll.
But the highest-ranked Big 12 foe for OSU is a familiar one. Holding the No.2 spot at 11-1 this season, Kansas is looking to get back to the success it had in the 2021-22 season, winning the national championship.
That March Madness run made the Jayhawks the second consecutive team to win the national title after Baylor did in 2021. The Bears, who the Cowboys will open conference play against, are off to another good start this season, rounding out the AP’s top 10 with a 10-2 record.
Yet, the Cowboys will have another top-10 team to face in the Big 12 this season, and it’s the one closest to them. After some down seasons, coach Porter Moser has led Oklahoma to a 10-1 start and No. 7 ranking.
Two February Bedlam matchups will cap off OSU’s six matchups against teams currently ranked in the top 10. Although it is an absurdly difficult schedule, OSU will need to come out with wins in some of those matchups to make the NCAA Tournament and maybe to save Mike Boynton’s job.
Last season, OSU had a couple of signature wins against Iowa State, plus a home win against TCU for its only three ranked victories. OSU may have a chance to get more wins like those this season against the league’s other two ranked squads.
Texas has started 9-2 to earn the No. 19 spot, and OSU will visit Austin for the teams’ lone meeting this season and the last as Big 12 opponents. The conference also has the No. 17 team, which may be the Big 12’s biggest surprise.
BYU went 19-15 in its final season in the West Coast Conference but has got out to a blistering 11-1 start in 2023-24.
The Cowboys will get their new Big 12 foe twice after the turn of the calendar, including the season finale in Provo. If the Cowboys could enter that game with at least eight conference wins, making the NCAA Tournament is a realistic goal.
However, after OSU’s stumbles in its nonconference schedule, it will need to take care of business against the mid-tier teams and pull some upsets against the league’s elite. Teams ranked in the week seven AP Poll make up nine of OSU’s conference games, good for exactly half.
That makes it imperative that the Cowboys start well in conference play. Of their first seven Big 12 games, only two come against currently ranked teams, both matchups taking place in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
While there will be plenty of time left for OSU to turn around a potentially poor start as it did in the nonconference, anything other than a winning record through seven conference games will be a reason to hit the panic button.
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