STILLWATER – I had originally planned for this piece to be a look ahead to the offseason and what Mike Boynton and Co. have to do either player-wise or philosophy-wise to have a more competitive and successful team next season. But there’s loads of time throughout the coming months to delve into that.
While this season has been rather abysmal at times, there’s been some promising moments as well and still plenty of games left to salvage the rest of the year, despite what some might say.
10-14 overall and 2-9 in Big 12 play leaves a lot to be desired. But a win over a good Kansas State team and nearly winning in Norman over a now-ranked OU team gives the Pokes some hope.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the schedule and see where the Pokes can pick up some wins, shall we?
Here’s where things get a little weird, both good and bad. The Pokes have a very favorable schedule to finish out February. They host BYU, Oklahoma and UCF. I’ll reference it again in the next graph, but I like the Pokes chances against most teams in Stillwater. The lone road game is against Cincinnati on the 21st.
The next game on the list is hosting now-ranked No. 19 BYU. The Cougars are 17-6 overall, but just 5-5 in Big 12 play and are sitting right around the middle of the conference table. While they beat a now-ranked UCF team, a then-ranked Iowa State team, played a tight game, albeit a loss to Texas Tech, Lubbock’s a tough place to play. They played a top-5 Houston team to seven points in Provo (loss), beat Texas and Kansas State, they got beat by OU in Norman by nearly 20 points. Yes, the Pokes have struggled, but I like their chances against most teams in Stillwater and feel they’ll bounce back from the disappointing finish to Bedlam this past weekend with a win against the Big 12 newcomers.
ESPN’s match-up predictor is giving Cincy at 91% chance of betting the Pokes next Wednesday. So, let’s just appease the mothership and say the Bearcats take that one. 1-1 for the Pokes so far.
OU has a TOUGH two-game stretch before playing in Stillwater on the 24, travel to Waco the 13th (tonight) for a showdown with No. 12 Baylor then host No. 6 Kansas this Saturday (17th). Plus, if the Pokes sink their second-half free throws in Norman, they take the first Bedlam game. Now that it’s back in Stillwater, I like the Pokes. 2-1.
The Pokes finish out February by hosting UCF on the 28th. The Knights travel to top-20 BYU tonight (13th), then play Cincy, WVU and Tech before the Pokes. It could prove tough, however, the game’s in Stillwater, where I’d favor the Pokes. 3-1.
Started out February going 0-3, finish it with a very real chance of going 3-1. That’s optimistic.
Now, March looks a little different as they’ll travel to Austin for what could be the last match up against the Longhorns for quite sometime. Austin’s also been a rather difficult place for the Pokes as they’re just 1-5 against the Longhorns in Austin since 2017-18.
Then a chance to go .500 in March as they’ll host Texas Tech on March 5. Again, I like the Pokes chances in Stillwater and I feel they’ll be amped up after the trip to Austin. 1-1 in March.
The regular season finishes on the road against a now-ranked BYU team, which could be a tall order. But I’ve seen a Mike Boynton-coached team beat much tougher teams down the stretch on the road. Think back to 2020-21 with Avery Anderson III in Morgantown against WVU. This one’s a coin flip for me, to be completely honest, especially with it being BYU’s senior day. 1-2.
Honestly, not the best way to finish the season, but finishing the Big 12 season with six wins instead of maybe three or four should give the fanbase some encouragement going into the offseason and the coaching staff a much-needed boost going into the heart of the transfer portal recruiting season.
