Cowboys Hoops Receives Academic Honor and Big 12 Opponents for 2023-24

(This story originated with the Big 12 Conference office and Pokes Report contributed to the story.)

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State found out their list of opponents for the Big 12 Conference schedule this season as the league will have 14-teams eliminating the possibility of the double round robin schedule. The Cowboys also found out that the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC0 named them an elite program academically. 

Both bits of news are important, but the challenge of the schedule comes first.

With the addition of four new members, the league will keep its 18-game schedule but shift to an unbalanced format for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

Oklahoma State has home-and-homes with five league opponents and single games against each of the other eight schools (four at home and four away).

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas is the premier Big 12 opponent to have visit Gallagher-Iba Arena.

BYU is the only newcomer that OSU will see twice, along with Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

Fans will have to wait until next year for their first glimpse of Houston and Cincinnati at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Those schools are on the away-only list along with Texas and Iowa State.

Likewise, UCF is a home-only opponent, joined by Baylor, TCU and West Virginia.

OSU last played host to BYU during the 1971-72 season and last visited Provo, Utah the following year. The Cowboys' most-recent road games at Cincinnati and Houston came in February, 2003 and December, 2019 respectively, while the UCF-OSU clash in Stillwater will mark the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Matchups were selected based on a combination of geography, historical results and a polling of the league's coaches to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competition. Pairings for all 14 schools are available at Big12Sports.com and dates are due out later this summer.  

In our opinion, the home and home opposition is stout with Kansas and Kansas State. Oklahoma was a slam dunk to be on there. Houston would be tough where ever you played them. Texas and Iowa State are traditionally tough places to play, especially Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum, but Boynton’s teams have played well there. The home schedule likely features one heavyweight in Baylor and the other trio of schools are a little unknown going in this season like the Cowboys.

Cowboys with High GPA

Oklahoma State was one of three Big 12 men's basketball programs recognized today by the National Association of Basketball Coaches for outstanding classroom achievement during the 2022-23 school year.

Oklahoma State Athletics

Carson Sager (middle) and Weston Church (far right) were named to the NABC Honors Court.

Rising seniors Weston Church and Carson Sager were named to the NABC Honors Court and the Cowboys collectively earned the organization's Team Academic Excellence Award.

To be eligible for the latter, team members must have averaged at least a 3.00 GPA during the previous academic year. It's the second time under head coach Mike Boynton that the Cowboys have been selected.

The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate-level student-athletes who finished the year with a 3.20 GPA or higher. Church – a sports management major from Fairview, Okla. – and Sager – a Wichita Falls, Texas native who is double-majoring in computer engineering and electrical engineering – both cleared that bar with ease.

For a complete list a winners, visit NABC.org.