Can Cowboys Embrace Spoiler Role Against Bubble Teams to Finish Season?

Oklahoma State might not have much left to play for, but its opponents do.

The Cowboys are predictably not in the running for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament in Steve Lutz’s first season as head coach. Barring a miraculous run in the Big 12 Tournament, the Cowboys will be on the outside of the big dance for the fourth straight season, with 2021 being the team’s only appearance since Brad Underwood’s lone season in 2017.

Although OSU had an intriguing start to the season and has shown an ability to beat some of the other teams around it in the conference standings, this team was destined to be in this situation coming into the year. Sitting at 4-8 in conference play and 12-11 overall, the Cowboys’ top goals should be to find a way into the top eight of the Big 12 standings to get a bye on the first day of the conference tournament and to avoid another losing season.

Still, even achieving those goals won’t do much for the team in the short term or long term. However, some of the Cowboys’ opponents will be desperate to get a win against OSU over the coming weeks.

Of the Cowboys’ final eight games, four will come against teams on the bubble, according to ESPN’s latest projections. Another three will come against teams considered locks and looking to earn more favorable seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

OSU will face Baylor, Cincinnati and UCF twice, marking the bubble teams on the slate. With those four games being an even split of home and road games, the Cowboys could do some damage to a couple of seasons in front of their home crowd.

If the Cowboys can take some games off of the bubble teams, not only would it be damaging for their conference rivals, but it would also be something for Lutz’s team to take pride in and build momentum going into next season.

OSU might not be a team on or even near the bubble in 2025, but playing in games that matter a whole lot to its opponents could be another early step to getting the program back on track.

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