Bracketology Update: Has Oklahoma State Done Enough To Get Into NCAA Tournament?

STILLWATER – It was a rough night in Kansas City for Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament against Texas on Thursday. The Cowboys shot just 27% from the field and 14% from 3-point range in the 61-47 loss to the Longhorns.

That loss moved the Cowboys to 18-15 overall on the season. Now, they did beat Oklahoma in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday, moving them to 18 wins and making it three-straight against the Sooners this year, a team which handed Alabama a near-30-point loss earlier in the year.

The biggest question that needs to be asked right now is: have the Cowboys done enough to earn a bid into the NCAA tournament? Albeit an at-large bid, but still in the Big Dance.

Following the loss to Texas, Joe Lunardi released his most recent Bracketology update, which had the Cowboys as the first team out of the tournament behind Arizona State, who just beat USC 77-72 in Pac-12 tournament. The Sun Devils will face the No. 2 Seed Arizona this evening at 10:30 p.m. CT. It’s possible if ASU plays the Wildcats close, even in a loss, they might not fall off the bubble.  If they get blown out, it might be a different story.

Penn State’s three-point win over the Big Ten No. 7 seed Illinois basically guaranteed the Nittany Lions are dancing, as did Mississippi State’s one-point win over Florida.

Utah State, while a No. 3 seed in the Mountain West tournament, plays No. 2 seed Boise State tonight at 11. The Aggies are two spots ahead of the Cowboys according to Lunardi. If the Broncos are able to win rather handily, maybe it helps the Cowboys.

Duke’s 30-point blowout of Pittsburgh didn’t help the Pokes as the Panthers are still three spots ahead according to Lunardi.

I’m not on the committee and I don’t exactly know what criteria they use. However, there’s several factors I feel need to be taken into consideration. First and foremost, the Cowboys have eight wins in Big 12 play, the toughest conference in college basketball, while also playing one of the toughest schedules in college basketball.

However, the poor performance against the Longhorns was something I warned against on my basketball pregame show with Tom Dirato on Triple Play Sports Radio. If the Cowboys still would’ve lost to Texas, but played them very close and lost by a few points in the final minute or so of the game, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. But as mentioned above, the Cowboys shot just 27% from the field and got beat by 14.

I’m not saying the committee is going to leave the Cowboys out the tournament come Selection Sunday. But I am saying the Cowboys losing five-straight down the stretch, while struggling to put points on the board, especially on Thursday evening, even with the wins over Texas Tech and Oklahoma, puts the Cowboys’ tournament hopes and dreams in the hands of a lot of different people.