Cowboy Basketball's Loss at Arizona Might Not Have Severe Consequences
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Oklahoma State’s big loss at Arizona might not be all that crushing.
On Saturday, OSU suffered one of its biggest losses in recent history, falling 84-47 to No. 1 Arizona. The 37-point margin of defeat is the second-largest for OSU since Steve Lutz took over last season, with a 38-point loss to Texas Tech in 2025 narrowly maintaining the top spot.
Considering how outmatched the Cowboys looked on Saturday, it might be reasonable to believe that OSU might not be a tournament team yet. And while that might still be the case this season, it won’t be solely because of the Cowboys’ shortcomings against the Wildcats.
After moving the Cowboys into the first four out tier in his Bracketology for ESPN last week, Joe Lunardi tweeted out his latest projection following the weekend of hoops. Despite losing by nearly 40, OSU didn’t drop too much further.
Latest Brackets per @ESPNLunardi pic.twitter.com/Sc1ahRcVS1
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 9, 2026
The Cowboys moved from the final spot of the first four out tier to the top spot of the next four out tier, effectively moving down only one spot after such a rough outing in Tucson. Although the 37-point loss was far from encouraging, the incredibly small drop OSU had in the Bracketology world is quite encouraging.
More than anything, it shows that there’s an understanding that the Cowboys play in the toughest men’s basketball conference in the country. The Big 12 is a gauntlet, and every week, there’s likely going to be an elite team on the schedule.
While avoiding massive blowouts will be key for OSU moving forward, there was some understandable leniency given to the Cowboys for what happened over the weekend. Of course, OSU has to take advantage of its small drop over the next couple of weeks.
The Cowboys should have a great opportunity to get back on track this week, as they head to Tempe for a Tuesday night matchup against Arizona State and return home for a matchup against TCU early on Saturday.
Currently, Arizona State is behind OSU at 3-8 in the Big 12 standings, and TCU is tied with the Cowboys at 4-6, having already won the first matchup in Fort Worth earlier this season. If the Cowboys can ride a two-game winning streak into their matchup against Kansas next week, they should have a real shot to maintain their spot on the bubble and perhaps work closer to moving off the bubble entirely.
Of course, if things go the other way, OSU will still be off the bubble; just not in the way it’s hoping.
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.