Northwestern Men's Basketball Will Play Oklahoma State on Thanksgiving

The 'Cats continue to release their nonconference schedule.

Mar 13, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach Chris Collins reacts to a play during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

College football season is on the horizon, but it's never too early to start thinking about basketball.

Northwestern's men's basketball team announced some important scheduling news today via X. The 'Cats will play a Thanksgiving Day game this year against Oklahoma State in Chicago's United Center. This marks their fifth confirmed nonconference tilt with a power five opponent, as Wildcat Report's Matthew Shelton pointed out in a reply to the post.

This brings Northwestern up to five non-conference games against Power Five opponents:

DePaul
Virginia
South Carolina
Oklahoma State
Butler

That's up from the usual four. Last time they played five was 2017-18 https://t.co/9VO00P3vMA

— Matthew Shelton (@M_Shelton33) August 19, 2025

Head coach Chris Collins appears to be ramping up the difficulty for his squad in nonconference games after a period of sustained success.

The Wildcats made two straight NCAA Tournaments in 2023 and 2024 before taking a slight step back last season. The injury bug bit last year's team, and some poor luck late in games during conference play ultimately sunk its chances.

Nevertheless, Northwestern has emerged as a much more legitimate threat in the Big Ten over the course of the past few years. Collins seems to be acting accordingly.

In addition to scheduling some higher-level opponents this year, Collins is bringing in his highest ranked recruiting class ever. He's also targeting players in the 2026 class ranked significantly higher than the 'Cats could dream of attracting a half decade ago.

It is important to note, though, that this year's Northwestern team is young. There's plenty of potential talent that could emerge, but this will be a youthful, inexperienced group taking on big-time opponents before the Big Ten season begins.

While Oklahoma State is one of them, the Cowboys aren't coming off a particularly inspiring 2024 campaign. They finished No. 12 in the Big 12 (which has 14 teams) with a 7-13 record in conference and a 17-18 record overall.

It will be a test for Northwestern, and teams can certainly look very different year to year in today's game, but this is a winnable one.

There's two sides to scheduling games like this. On one hand, you risk more losses before conference play. The committee tends to respect playing difficult opponents during the "non-con" schedule, but losing is never a good thing. Especially with a young team, confidence is important going into Big Ten competition.

On the other hand, it can provide valuable experience for this new team before the games start to take on even more meaning. Winning these games against Oklahoma State, Virginia, South Carolina, Butler and DePaul could provide quite the confidence boost for a young group.

One thing is for sure, Chris Collins and Northwestern are in "go mode." This isn't the program of five years ago, and it doesn't seem to want to be treated as such.