What Preseason AP Top 25 Says About Oklahoma State's Season
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Oklahoma State just got a better look at how challenging its upcoming season will be.
Cowboy basketball is set for the second season of the Steve Lutz era, and he is steadily building the program into something special. While it will still be another year before Jalen Montonati and OSU’s most recent commit, Latrell Allmond, come to Stillwater, the 2025-26 season could still be an exciting one in Stillwater.
Given that OSU football hasn’t given Cowboy fans anything to cheer about in a couple of years, there is a clear opening for basketball to re-emerge in Stillwater, especially with Jacie Hoyt’s Cowgirls already poised for what could be the best season in program history. While Lutz and company won’t quite see those types of peaks next season, making it back to the NCAA Tournament could be a realistic goal, but the Pokes will have to overcome some of the toughest matchups on their schedule.
On Monday, the preseason AP Top 25 was released for the 2025-26 season. While the Cowboys didn’t grace the preseason polls, a feat they haven’t accomplished since the 2013-14 season, they have plenty of upcoming opponents in the rankings.
Known for being arguably the toughest conference in college hoops over the past several years, it’s no surprise that the Big 12 had its fair share of representatives in the top 25. After falling just short in last season’s national title game, Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars are the No. 2 team in the country, leading the way in the Big 12 with 16 first-place votes and trailing only Purdue nationally.
That’s a big deal for the Cowboys because they will have to face those Cougars in the regular season finale in March in a game that could easily make or break OSU’s tournament hopes. Of course, the Pokes will have to make it through the rest of their schedule to get into that position, meaning they’ll have to find wins in at least some of their other games against ranked opponents.
OSU is also set to have one matchup each against No. 8 BYU, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 13 Arizona and No. 19 Kansas. While the Cowboys got a bit lucky on that front, they won’t be spared against No. 16 Iowa State, which will match up against Lutz and company twice.
With seven of OSU’s 18 conference games set to come against ranked opponents next season, a winning record in the Big 12 might just put OSU into those rankings at some point or at least into the big dance.
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.