Cowboy Basketball Can't Afford Any More Mistakes

The Cowboys are not in the position they want to be, and can't afford to slip anymore.

Jan 17, 2026; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Parsa Fallah (22) of the Oklahoma State Cowboys shoots the ball during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Cowboy basketball has no more room for mistakes this season. 

Oklahoma State started its basketball season off by winning its first nine games, and truly looked like it was ready to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament, something the Cowboys haven’t done since the 2020-21 season. 

OSU continued this momentum leading up to Big 12 play, as it was 12-1 and ready to test itself against one of the nation’s best conferences. This is when the Cowboys ran into a huge roadblock. Oklahoma State quickly found out the Big 12 is a different animal as it lost its opening conference bout against No.15 Texas Tech by 22 points. 

The Pokes still haven’t quite figured out how to navigate the conference, and after another loss to Iowa State on Saturday, the Cowboys now sit at 2-5 in the conference. Although there are still 11 games left for the Cowboys to leave their mark, there is now no time to mess around. 

OSU doesn’t currently have the necessary resume to land one of the 64 spots in the NCAA Tournament. The Pokes have gone 1-3 against ranked opponents and have had bad losses, like against TCU, where they didn’t score in the last four minutes of the game. 

However, the good thing about playing in one of the best conferences in the nation is that there are plenty of opportunities to prove yourself. The Pokes have five more quad one matchups before the year is over, and they can’t let these opportunities slip away. Three of these games are against Top-15 teams, and if the Cowboys can put together a couple of wins like that, they’ll make some noise in the bracket rankings. 

Although the bigger wins would make more noise, OSU must focus on the games it's supposed to win, too. This will start on Saturday, as Oklahoma State travels to Utah to take on the Utes in a game where the Pokes must find their stride once again. 

Oklahoma State is in a deep hole as it is, and they must start digging out of it sooner rather than later. The Cowboys have the weapons to do so, but there can be no more letdown games for the likes of Parsa Fallah, Anthony Roy and any of the Pokes’ stars. 

The position the Cowboys are in isn’t the end of the world, but if they continue in this direction, then they’ll have no shot of making it to the postseason.

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