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Desperately needing to stop the downhill slide of a four game losing streak, the Cowboys were able to return to winning form in a great effort against TCU. Prior to the game, the Pokes had fallen to #42 in the RPI ranking and were facing an almost certain must win situation. The Pokes delivered a great performance on senior night, and might have secured their spot in the field of 68 in the process.
OKLAHOMA STATE RESUME |
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18-11 Overall | 8-9 Big 12 (6th) |
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|
Home |
Away |
Neutral |
SOS |
SOS Rank |
RPI |
RPI Rank |
| 11-4 | 4-7 | 3-0 | 0.5878 | 10 | 0.5852 | 39 |
Quality Wins (Teams Ranked 1-50 in the RPI) |
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|
Rank |
Date |
Site |
Opponent |
Score |
||
| 2 | 2/7 | Home | Kansas | 67-62 | ||
| 9 | 1/27 | Home | Baylor | 64-53 | ||
| 9 | 2/15 | Road | Baylor | 74-65 | ||
| 38 | 1/26 | Neutral | Tulsa | 73-58 | ||
| 46 | 1/10 | Home | Texas | 69-58 | ||
| 46 | 2/4 | Road | Texas | 65-63 (OT) | ||
Bad Losses (Teams Ranked 100+ in the RPI) |
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|
Rank |
Date |
Site |
Opponent |
Score |
||
| 125 | 2/15 | Away | TCU | 55-70 | ||
| 176 | 2/28 | Away | Texas Tech | 62-63 | ||
*RPI and SOS stats courtesy CBS.com
While the TCU win most likely won't increase OSU's chances at a better seed, a loss would have almost certainly put the Cowboys on the bubble. Instead, they can rest assured the body of work up to this point SHOULD get them in, and OSU won't have the extra burden of trying to pull out a tough road win at West Virginia Saturday to stay afloat. The strength of schedule dipped slightly as expected due to TCU's 100+ RPI ranking, but should improve after Saturday's trip to Morgantown.
Here is the latest bracket projections for the Cowboys:
Bracket Projections |
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Site |
Seed |
Region |
Opponent |
Site |
| SBN | 8 | West | Ole Miss | Charlotte |
| ESPN | 9 | South | Dayton | Charlotte |
| CBS | 8 | South | Ole Miss | Charlotte |
*All Projections as of 3/5
As previously mentioned, the Cowboys have not moved off the 8-9 projections after the win last night. Unless something changes, Oklahoma State is looking at a one in four chance of facing Kentucky in the 2nd round, which is...not ideal.
BracketMatrix.com depicts Oklahoma State as an 8 seed as well.
Seed |
Team |
Conference |
Average Seed |
# of Brackets |
| 7 | Virginia Commonwealth | Atlantic 10 | 6.6 | 96 |
| 7 | San Diego State | Mountain West | 7.44 | 96 |
| 7 | St. John's | Big East | 7.57 | 96 |
| 7 | Ohio State | Big Ten | 7.69 | 96 |
| 8 | Iowa | Big Ten | 7.94 | 96 |
| 8 | Michigan State | Big Ten | 8.22 | 96 |
| 8 | Dayton | Atlantic 10 | 8.35 | 95 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 8.67 | 96 |
| 9 | Georgia | SEC | 8.96 | 96 |
| 9 | Xavier | Big East | 9.06 | 96 |
| 9 | LSU | SEC | 9.21 | 95 |
| 9 | Indiana | Big Ten | 9.33 | 92 |
Most importantly, the Cowboys are projected to be in the field in all 96 brackets used in the matrix. If the Cowboys want to increase their chances of avoiding the top half of a region, they'll need victories against WVU and maybe even the opening round opponent in the Big 12 tournament. A loss on Saturday combined with a one-and-done showing in the conference tournament could drop the Pokes to a 10 seed, but odds are the Cowboys are not in any danger of missing the Dance.