Cowgirls Take Slight Tumble in Latest AP Poll
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Oklahoma State’s season took an early turn, but there’s still plenty of time to get back on track.
Coming into this season, OSU women’s basketball had some of the highest expectations the program has ever seen. Coming off the second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons under Jacie Hoyt, the Cowgirls came into 2025-26 with hopes of becoming a true powerhouse in the college basketball landscape.
Over the first couple of weeks, everything went perfectly according to plan. Against a handful of clearly inferior opponents, the Cowgirls went 5-0 in Gallagher-Iba Arena, winning every game by at least 38 points.
However, things went downhill for the Cowgirls when they took their first road trip of the year, falling 74-67 at St. John’s. While a shaky performance like that in their first true test of the season could have easily led to the national media being out on the Cowgirls early, there is clearly still some faith in Hoyt’s squad to bounce back.
In Monday’s AP poll, the Cowgirls came in at No. 24, dropping six spots from the No. 18 spot they held going into their first loss. Along with the belief in OSU from those watching, the Cowgirls gave plenty of reason for fans to stop worrying too much with a 98-45 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night.
While the loss to St. John’s certainly wasn’t ideal for the Cowgirls, it might have been the wakeup call they needed early in the season. Without much competition in the first several games, getting some close reps against a solid team on the road could pay off for the Cowgirls as they prepare for some tougher nonconference games coming up.
Along with dropping to No. 24 in the latest AP poll, OSU also dropped to a 6 seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology. Of course, Bracketology doesn’t mean much in November, but the fact that OSU’s potentially bad loss is still seen as no big deal in tournament terms has to be a relief for Hoyt and company.
Moving forward, OSU could easily play well enough to make everyone forget about its lone loss thus far. Still sitting at 6-1 with dominant wins in every matchup in Gallagher-Iba Arena will continue to make it difficult to debate whether OSU is worthy of its hype.
But now, the next time OSU faces an opponent closer to its level, it should be better prepared for the challenge.
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.