STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is off to a hot start to the 2025-26 season as the Pokes are one of only eight undefeated teams remaining at 9-0 and are receiving enough votes to be No. 27 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
They’ve held off a couple of solid opponents in South Florida earlier in the season and Grand Canyon this past weekend. With that, their toughest opponent/challenge of the season so far will be on Saturday as they face Oklahoma for a Bedlam showdown at Paycom Center.
With that being said, there’s still a ton of room for improvement for the Pokes, primarily on the defensive end. The Cowboys are outscoring their opponents by nearly 15 points, but it was a six-point margin against the Antelopes, were outrebounded 34-32 and turned the ball over 12-9.
“If you would’ve told me on December 9th that you’d be 9-0 and headed into Bedlam, certainly all of us would’ve taken that bet and ran with it and we’d be very, very happy,” said Steve Lutz. “With that being said, I still think this team has a large, large, large area for growth defensively. If we can do that, we’re gonna have an opportunity to be a contender in the Big 12, and that’s where our emphasis lies on a daily basis.”
It’s finals week in Stillwater, which means no games this week until Bedlam on Saturday, which means plenty of time for that improvement Lutz talked about. We’ll find out on Saturday at noon. But one thing Lutz talked about was the importance of Bedlam in year two.
“I told the guys this: ‘it just means so much to so many people.’ It’s funny how our fans and our friends and people that you know and love and are dear to you, they go, ‘man, it’s great, you guys are 9-0, you’re No. 27 in the AP Poll. But if you lose this weekend, nobody really cares about all that other stuff. And I get it. I obviously grew up in Texas, so I watched Texas and Texas A&M just hate one another all my life. But it sounds like the same thing here in Oklahoma. I listened to the fans tell me how arrogant [OU] fans were and this, that and the other. I didn’t get to experience it firsthand, but I damn sure did last year when we got our butt beat in Paycom [Center]. Like, those people let you know that you just got your butt handed to you, and that wasn’t a fun feeling.”
The Cowboys lost to a really good Sooners team last year 80-65, but the game wasn’t as close as the score. They shot just 39% from the floor, 28% from 3-point range and just 64% from the free throw line. The Sooners shot 49% from the field. But they weren’t much better as they went 35% from 3-point range and 63% from the free throw line. But they dominated most of the game.
This Cowboys team is way better than last year in just about every aspect, like shooting, passing, playing together and controlling a game, aside from the defensive side.
They’ll have a chance to avenge the loss as they’ve got a noon tip on Fox this Saturday.
