A Look at Oklahoma State's Potential Big 12 Tournament Matchups
Oklahoma State’s hopes of making the NCAA Tournament are slim to none, but a favorable Big 12 Tournament setup could help.
Although favorable matchups could earn OSU a win or two, a deep conference tournament run would require significant luck. However, for OSU to find that luck, it must first take care of business.
The Cowboys are stuck in the bottom two of the conference standings, but all possible matchups for day one are winnable games. The Cowboys are tied with West Virginia at 13th in the conference with one regular season game remaining.
With OSU holding the tiebreaker, a win or WVU loss would lock it into 13 for a matchup with the 12 seed. Even if OSU drops to 14, which requires a loss and WVU win, the possible matchups remain mostly the same.
Although Kansas State can’t drop to 12, it could be an 11 seed for an 11-14 matchup with OSU. In the first matchup, OSU struggled to close against KSU, losing the game in Manhattan by only four points before a three-point a couple of weeks later at home.
Still, regardless of seeding, OSU's likeliest matchups are UCF and Cincinnati. OSU played each team once, both of which were tight games.
OSU lost to UCF in late February at home after leading for much of the game. UCF went winless against KSU and Cincinnati, making them a likely 12 seed if tiebreakers come into play.
Cincinnati is currently tied with UCF in the 11-12 spots. The Bearcats lost at home in their only meeting with the Cowboys this season.
That is an important note for OSU because it was the only conference game Mike Boynton’s team won outside of Gallagher-Iba Arena.
No matchup is necessarily better for OSU than others, but with at least one winnable matchup to begin the tournament, OSU can enter the Big 12 Tournament with confidence.
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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.