Oklahoma State to Host Houston in Big 12 Basketball Opener
Oklahoma State will have a tough contest to begin conference play.
On Wednesday, Jon Rothstein reported that OSU will face Houston on Dec. 30 in Gallagher-Iba Arena. To begin conference play under new coach Steve Lutz, OSU will get one of its toughest matchups of the season.
Houston is a serious contender to not only win the Big 12 but also compete for a national championship. This will be the first of two meetings against Houston next season, as OSU will also play the Cougars on the road.
Playing Houston twice is one of the disadvantages OSU has next season, but the Cowboys will not have any breaks once conference play begins. The Big 12 is the premier conference in college basketball, and the full conference schedule is set to be released on Thursday.
While OSU will soon find out more about its schedule, it will need to perform better than it did last season. In Mike Boynton’s final season at the helm, OSU went 12-20, including a rough 4-14 mark in Big 12 play.
After OSU fired Boynton, the team hired Steve Lutz to try and turn around the program. After most of last season’s contributors entered the transfer portal, Lutz built next season’s roster with a mix of veteran talent in the portal and players ready to prove they belong in a power conference.
OSU’s matchup against Houston will be the first conference game next season, but it won’t be the first big test Lutz’s team faces in year one. With a few matchups against a solid mid-majors, OSU’s nonconference schedule could provide some interesting matchups. Of course, that slate is headlined by a Bedlam matchup in Oklahoma City in mid-December.
READ MORE: Oklahoma State's Playoff Hopes Rely on Week 5 Result
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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.