How Will Regular Season Finale Affect Oklahoma State's Big 12 Finish?
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The final weekend of the Big 12 regular season could have some interesting effects for the Cowboys.
Oklahoma State has been one of the worst teams in the Big 12 throughout the season and is well on the outside of the NCAA Tournament picture. Despite the Cowboys’ rough season and failure to win a conference road game, they have at least met or perhaps even exceeded expectations.
After going 4-14 in conference play last season, OSU fired Mike Boynton and took weeks during the critical transfer portal window to decide on bringing in Steve Lutz. Still, Lutz built a competitive roster and had a relatively successful nonconference slate before going 6-13 in Big 12 play.
With an opportunity to get up to seven conference wins on Saturday, the Cowboys have had a decent season, all things considered. Still, OSU has not lived up to program expectations for the past few years and could use a Big 12 Tournament run to get some of that fire back into the program.
OSU’s first step to a conference tournament run will be to give itself a favorable matchup in the first round. The Cowboys will face Cincinnati this weekend in a game that will determine where OSU finishes in the regular season standings.
Sitting at 6-13, OSU is currently 14th in the conference and can’t drop any lower. Meanwhile, UCF and Cincinnati are each at 7-12 and in the 12/13 spots. With Utah sitting as the lone 8-11 team at 11th, the Cowboys will likely face one of those four teams in the first round, barring a drop from TCU, Kansas State or West Virginia.
With the Cincinnati game at home, the Cowboys could be set for a 7-3 finish in Big 12 games at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Moving up from 14th and into the 12/13 game could set OSU up for a second-round matchup against the fifth seed before playing the fourth seed in a potential quarterfinal matchup.
While any deep run is far-fetched for the Cowboys, having the opportunity to avoid any top-three seeds until the semifinals would be a welcome sight.
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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.