The Big 12's NCAA Tournament Success Shows The Level OSU Needs To Be At To Contend

The Pokes have a big jump to make to be real contenders.

Oklahoma State Cowboys center Benjamin Ahmed (23) celebrates with Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Kanye Clary (1) during a first-round basketball game in the National Invitational between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Davidson Wildcats at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., Tuesday, March 17, 2026. Oklahoma State won 84-80. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Cowboys have a long way to go before being real competitors. 

The Oklahoma State Cowboys’ season had its highs and definitely had its lows. OSU started the season off strong, opening up the year 9-0. However, the year slowly started going in the opposite direction when the Pokes got to conference play. 

The Big 12 was not kind to the Cowboys, as the Pokes went 6-12 and finished the regular season thirteenth in the conference. The Big 12 is a tough conference, as it sent eight teams to the NCAA Tournament. However, it has become apparent that to excel at the highest level, you must rise to the top of the conference. 

The conference fared well in the first round of the tournament, as six of the eight teams made it to the round of 32. This round thinned the Big 12 down, as only Houston, Arizona and Iowa State were still alive when the round was over. 

Now with the Eliete Eight starting Saturday night, the only Big 12 team still in the hunt is the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats won the regular-season Big 12 title and were sitting at No. 1 in the nation for a good portion of the season. 

They have been elite all season, and showed this against the Cowboys this season. In their one contest against the wildcats all season, the Pokes fell by nearly 40 points in a disastrous 84-47 loss. Oklahoma State knew it wasn’t ready to fight for the top spot in the conference, but now they know they must get to that level to compete in March. 

OSU has only made it as far as the NIT two years in a row and had a rough time in the tournament this year. The Pokes made it past the first round, beating Davidson by four points. Oklahoma State would then meet Wichita State in the second round and be completely outmatched. 

The Shockers ran the Cowboys off their own home court, winning 96-70. The Pokes knew at this point, their season hadn’t lived up to the expectations, but a second-round NIT loss must wake them up for next season. 

Next year’s Oklahoma State squad is one of the most hyped up in years, as three four-star players are set to join the roster. The Pokes can be excited about this, but must know that it will take a lot more to get to the level of a Big 12 and National Tournament contender.