Cowboys and Fans Ponder March Madness Starting Point

STILLWATER – It is sit and wait time for Oklahoma State and all the Cowboy basketball fans out there. The CBS/NCAA Selection Show doesn’t start until 5 p.m. (CT) Sunday afternoon and there is nothing anybody can do. Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton has done all he can do and believe me Cowboys fans know it. The social media vibe over Boynton is lock the man in immediately. Fans are demanding that Oklahoma State administration do whatever it takes to make sure Boynton doesn’t leave for any soon to be openings in college basketball. The memories of Brad Underwood changing slightly his shade of orange after leading the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament in his first season are fresh.

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Boynton is not satisfied.

I think you can chill out a little. Boynton is locked in right now on his team and what they have a chance to do in the NCAA bubble for March Madness. Oklahoma State was notified by the NCAA to be ready to depart Kansas City as soon as the selection show announcement is made. In fact, the Cowboys will immediately head to the airport and fly to Indianapolis before they can even stage a Zoom conference to give their take on their path in the tournament. Boynton will release a short reaction video and then have a Zoom conference at 10 p.m. in Indianapolis after the team arrives.

Pokes Report will have mutiple stories after the Selection Show and later after Boynton and  players react once arriving in Indianapolis. 

Boynton did not have much to say about the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night after the Cowboys fell to Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game 91-86. The hurt was still too fresh from losing an opportunity to cut down the nets in Kansas City.

“Disappointed that we lost because didn’t come this far just to come this far, so to speak,” Boynton said. “The hurt is real and the disappointment is real.”

However, the head coach made it clear he is proud of what his team has accomplished.

“I can’t imagine a team that has had a tougher stretch, so to speak, than we’ve had for the last three weeks,” Boynton said of the Cowboys gauntlet run through the last five regular season games and the Big 12 Tournament going 6-2 against all top 20 competition. “I think we showed ourselves well and that we’ve got our program moving in the right direction. I think our team took another step this year and they need to be very proud of that.

“It’s also exciting to me that for the first time as a head coach we are going to be part of the big dance,” added Boynton. “And that we have a chance to continue this season and I’m really excited to see what we can do after we get a little rest the next couple of days. There is more we can still accomplish moving forward.”

Team leader and guard Isaac Likekele focused on the journey as well with an eye to the next few weeks. He reflected on how this team didn’t let the outside issues, like the NCAA probation and initial ban on playing in the tournament reflect on them or the way they prepared and played the season.

“The fans mean a lot to us, but the bond that we have in this locker room is amazing,” Likekele preached. “For all of us to come here (this season) and not even know if we could be in the tournament that tells you what kind of bond we have built. For us to be able to go (to the tournament) means a lot and we are going to take full advantage of it.”

So how does it project? The folks that seem to know the most about this are ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, CBS bracketologist Jerry Palm, and the “johnny come lately” is Andy Katz, who now works for the NCAA.com.

Lunardi has Oklahoma State as a three-seed in his Region 4 portion of the bracket. Makes no sense to use directional terms as the map doesn’t matter his year in Indianapolis. He has the Pokes playing 14-seed Abilene Christian with the winner seeing the winner of six-seed BYU or 11-seed either Syracuse or Drake from a “first four” game. The two-seed on the Cowboys side of the region is Alabama. In that Region 4 the top-seed is Michigan and the four-seed is West Virginia.

Jerry Palm of CBS could not refrain from using direction as he has Oklahoma State as the two-seed in the East Region opening with 15-seed Iona. The winner would play the survivor of seven-seed Missouri and 10-seed Loyola-Chicago. The three-seed Houston is a tough match-up. The top-seed is Michigan with just like Lunardi’s bracket West Virginia as the four-seed.

Finally, Andy Katz has Oklahoma State as a three-seed opening with 14-seed Eastern Washington and the winner playing the winner of six-seed Tennessee and 11-seed play-in winner Drake or Wichita State. The top seed in that region is Gonzaga and the two-seed in Iowa.

While Oklahoma State looks great on paper and the eye test, the NET still has the Cowboys ranked 29th and it is the quad three record of 3-2 with those two losses being TCU. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State’s record against potential NCAA Tournament teams is sensational as you can see.

Do make note that the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship has a different calendar from years past as the first four games will be played on Thursday (March 18). First round games will take place on Friday (March 19) and Saturday (March 20) with second round games on Sunday (March 21) and Monday (March 22). The Sweet 16 commences on Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28. The Elite Eight will go on Monday, March 29 and Tuesday, March 30. The Final Four is on Saturday, April 3 and the Championship Game on Monday night, April 5.