Selection Sunday Could Soon Mean Something for Cowboys Again
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Selection Sunday is one of the most anticipated days in college basketball, but it hasn’t mattered much in Stillwater lately.
Oklahoma State is set to miss the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season. After the final three years of Mike Boynton featured a postseason ban, a near miss, and a 12-20 record, the Cowboys might have begun to turn a corner toward the end of Steve Lutz’s first season.
Although OSU flamed out in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, it still finished with 15 wins, albeit with a losing record. In any case, the Cowboys still made a marginal improvement from their 2023-24 campaign.
Considering how the roster had to be hastily thrown together in the latter stages of the transfer portal window after Lutz was hired, the Cowboys couldn’t have asked for much more from their team. With a number of veteran players from smaller schools making up the bulk of OSU’s roster, the Cowboys were able to start well in a successful nonconference schedule before seemingly hitting a wall once Big 12 play hit.
While some of the moments that hit this team might have derailed the 2024 season, the Cowboys powered through adversity and continued to fight in 2025. That could be a sign of things to come as Lutz gets to bring in some highly touted recruits and build a team that fits his style with the entire offseason and transfer portal window to work with.
Ultimately, the goal for the Cowboys is not only to compete with the best in the Big 12 but also compete with the best in the nation. While it seems like an eternity since Eddie Sutton led OSU to the Final Four in 2004, the Cowboys might finally have found the guy to build the program back to that level.
Considering Lutz’s success at smaller schools and his ability to make three-straight NCAA Tournaments to begin his head coaching career, he has experience in leading quick turnarounds. While turning around a Big 12 school will naturally take more time than turning around a mid-major, Stillwater is hungry for a winning Cowboy basketball team, and Selection Sunday could become a key day for the Cowboys again soon.
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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.