Big 12 Tournament Semifinal Matchups Show Oklahoma State Has Long Road Ahead

The Big 12 Tournament has produced some fun matchups throughout the first few rounds, and the final three games show how elite the top of the conference can be.

The Big 12 Tournament tipped off on Tuesday with a morning tipoff for Oklahoma State and Cincinnati. The Cowboys were promptly ran off the floor by the Bearcats in their lone game in Kansas City.

With a 19-point defeat potentially ending the Cowboys’ season, there were still some positives to take away. Although OSU struggled mightily against Cincinnati on a neutral floor, OSU had just beaten the Bearcats in Stillwater a few days earlier. The Cowboys had also recently beaten the Iowa State team that beat Cincinnati in the next round. However, the Cyclones’ run would end there as they lost to BYU in the quarterfinals.

That leaves the Big 12 with four teams going into Friday night’s semifinal action. BYU is set to face Houston, and Texas Tech is set for battle against Arizona. With all of those teams already firmly in the NCAA Tournament picture, these games are about seeding and, of course, winning a championship.

While OSU found some success against some of the teams in the top half of the Big 12, the final four standing in Kansas City prove that the Cowboys aren’t close to their ultimate goals. Not only do teams need to be good in the regular season, but they also must have the ability to step up in do-or-die games in the postseason.

The Cowboys have failed on both of those fronts in recent years, finishing with a 15-16 regular season record before getting bounced in their lone postseason matchup. Against the four teams still standing, OSU failed to get a single win, going 0-6. The losses weren’t pretty either.

In the six losses, OSU stayed within single digits only once in its nine-point defeat at Houston. The Cowboys also suffered the largest loss in Gallagher-Iba Arena history with a 93-55 score against Texas Tech.

While OSU had to throw this team together in the late window of the portal after Steve Lutz arrived, the Cowboys still managed to have a relatively successful season. As Lutz builds this team for the future, the next goal needs to be to consistently compete against the conference’s top teams. If the Cowboys can begin to put up fights against the best, the wins against the best might not be far behind.

Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.