Where Cowgirls Stand in AP Poll and Bracketology After Regular Season

The Cowgirls still have room for improvement after one of the best regular seasons in program history.

Oklahoma State finished the regular season with a 57-51 win at Kansas to avenge its first conference loss on Sunday and secured the No. 3 spot in the Big 12 standings. With byes in the first two rounds of the conference tournament, the Cowgirls will get to see the potential conference title picture unfold before taking the floor.

OSU finished the regular season with four-straight wins and is playing some of its best basketball of the season. However, the Cowgirls’ great play wasn’t necessarily reflected in the latest AP poll.

After the regular season wrapped up on Monday, the AP released its latest top 25 on Monday, with the Cowgirls sticking in the No. 21 spot it held a week ago. OSU is one of five Big 12 teams in the top 25, joining No. 8 TCU, which won the Big 12 regular season title on Sunday, No. 16 West Virginia, No. 17 Baylor and No. 20 Kansas State. Utah was the only other team to receive votes, effectively ranking 29th.

With wins over every other ranked team and Utah, which is receiving votes, the Cowgirls have shown their ability to beat some of the best teams in the country. ESPN’s latest bracketology reflected some of the shifts over a wild weekend in college basketball. Going into the conference tournament slate, OSU is one of seven Big 12 teams in the projected field.

Despite having plenty of signature wins and earning a top-three finish in the regular season, the Cowgirls are still stuck as a No. 7 seed, according to ESPN. That ties OSU with Utah as the second-lowest seeded team in the Big 12, ranking ahead of only Iowa State, which is projected as the final bye in the tournament.

OSU’s hopes of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament seem slim even with a deep Big 12 Tournament run by ESPN’s account, but CBS Sports has the Cowgirls sitting as a No. 5 seed, with plenty of opportunity to move into a coveted spot in the top 16.

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