What Charleston Classic Pod Would Prepare Oklahoma State Basketball Best?

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are heading toward playing in a multi-team event in Charleston for the 2026-27 men’s basketball season.

Per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the Cowboys are one of six teams set to participate in the Charleston Classic. Along with the Cowboys, Dayton, Northwestern, Utah, Minnesota, and Virginia Tech are expected to participate. Two more teams are set to be announced, and the tournament will feature a pair of four-team pods.

Oklahoma State has not made a formal announcement. OSU is not one of the eight Big 12 teams committed to play in the Players Era in November in Las Vegas.

The Cowboys are coming off a 20-win season and a second straight trip to the NIT. Could a tough pod matchup help their NCAA Net and get them in position for an NCAA Tournament bid?

The Best Charleston Classic Pod for the Cowboys

Dayton Flyers head basketball coach Anthony Grant coaches his team from the sideline — Dayton Flyers head basketball coach Anthony Grant. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

With six teams announced and two more to be added, it’s likely one of the teams that OSU will face will come from one of the final two selections. But one potential opponent can be eliminated. Tournaments like this work to avoid intra-conference matchups, so the Cowboys won’t play the Utes.

That leaves four selections. Three teams are from a power conference. The other, Dayton, plays in the Atlantic 10 Conference and is a quality program.

Tournaments like Charleston attempt to set up quality matchups throughout the event. The Cowboys should get three games out of this. Based on last year’s records, these two teams, along with a team to be named later, would be a solid pod for the Cowboys.

First, the Cowboys should be in a pod with Dayton. The Flyers won 25 games last season, finished fourth in the A-10 and, like the Cowboys, got into the NIT, where they reached the quarterfinals. The program also made the NCAA Tournament in 2024. Oklahoma State can seek a game like this on their own. But, by playing it at a neutral site it lessens the impact on their NCAA Net if the Cowboys lose.

Dayton’s NET was 66 last year. This would be a Quad 2 game at a neutral site. It tests the Cowboys and doesn’t hurt their NET.

The other one should be Virginia Tech. The Hokies won 19 games a year ago but were 8-10 in ACC action, finishing nine games back of Duke in the regular season. The Hokies haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2022. But last season is proof that head coach Mike Young is getting the Hokies positioned to make noise in 2026-27.

The Hokies had a NET of 56 last season. This would be a borderline Quad 1 game on a neutral site for the Cowboys.

That would be a great start for the Cowboys in what would be a challenging Charleston Classic.

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