Breaking Down the Cowgirls' Big 12 Tournament Path
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The Cowgirls’ path to a Big 12 title won’t be easy, but they have exceeded expectations all season.
On Friday, Oklahoma State will play in its first game of the Big 12 Tournament. As the No. 3 seed, OSU earned a bye for the first two rounds and will be slightly more rested than its opponent.
The Cowgirls still don’t know who their opponent is, but after Wednesday’s action, they know which two teams could be on the floor with them. After No. 14 seed Texas Tech beat No. 11 seed Kansas, the Red Raiders are set to face No. 6 seed Utah in the second round. The Utes had a first-round bye and will get their first action of the tournament on Thursday night.
As for who OSU is most likely to face on Friday, the Utes seem like the clear favorite to advance after Texas Tech’s upset win in the first round. Those teams played only once in the regular season, with Utah winning 70-64 at Texas Tech in the midst of the Utes’ seven-game winning streak.
Of course, OSU went unbeaten against those two teams this season, winning the lone matchup against each on the road. Considering the Cowgirls will have an extra day to prepare for the game, they should have an advantage against whichever team can advance.
Beyond the matchup against Utah or Texas Tech, the Cowgirls would face either Baylor, Iowa State or Arizona State in the semifinals. While Baylor is the obvious favorite, the Bears might not be such heavy favorites if they advance to face OSU.
The Cowgirls earned a blowout win at Baylor early in the conference schedule and should have plenty of confidence going into the matchup against the Big 12 regular season runner-up. As for the final, OSU would likely face TCU if it advances to that point. However, Kansas State beat TCU earlier this season and West Virginia is always an interesting team to watch.
As with the other rounds, OSU would have a win against every opponent. Considering most of OSU’s losses came against the bottom of the Big 12, only one team to beat OSU this season is still alive going into the second round.
While the Cowgirls are far from invincible and could flame out in their first game, they also have a solid foundation to make a run to the Big 12 title.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.