Cowgirls Drop in ESPN's Latest Bracketology
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The Cowgirls have some work to do over the next few weeks.
This season, Oklahoma State is having perhaps its best year in over half a decade as Jacie Hoyt is in her third year with the program. Hoyt is set to send her team to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in that span and has the Cowgirls in the top 25 for the first time since 2018.
Considering all of the positives OSU has had throughout the first 22 games, going 18-4, it is difficult to be negative about the Cowgirls this season. However, their ceiling might not be as high as it has seemed throughout the first half of Big 12 play.
OSU has been among the top teams in the Big 12 standings and sits in a tie for fourth at 8-3 going into its next game. However, OSU’s status within the conference doesn’t necessarily make it a legitimate threat on the national stage.
In ESPN’s latest bracketology, OSU slipped to a No. 8 seed, effectively projecting it as a team in the 29-32 range despite its No. 25 ranking. For much of conference play, OSU has hovered around being a No. 7 seed or even a No. 6 seed. However, OSU’s recent loss at West Virginia has tanked some of the confidence others have in the Cowgirls.
Still, Hoyt’s team will get a chance to rise up in bracketology and the AP poll again on Saturday when it hosts No. 12 Kansas State. In this bracketology, the Wildcats are projected as a No. 2 seed, the best seeding among the Big 12’s seven projected teams.
Of the other five teams in the bracket, OSU has beaten four, with a matchup against Utah yet to happen. While OSU has a top 10 win this season when it beat No. 9 TCU a few weeks ago, it has another chance to knock off the Big 12’s top team.
If OSU could hand Kansas State its second Big 12 loss, it could easily jump a few spots and build some momentum. After Kansas State, the Cowgirls have two straight games against teams with losing conference records.
As long as OSU can show up against another good team at Gallagher-Iba Arena, it should have no problem getting out of the No. 8 spot in the bracket.
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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.