Cowboys Make the Cut in The Athletic's Way-Too-Early Top 25

STILLWATER – We might be less than 24 hours removed from Baylor winning the 2020-21 national championship, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look ahead at a way-too-early top 25.

It was a solid season for Oklahoma State as the Pokes finished with their best record since 2012-13, 21-9 overall and 11-7 in Big 12 play. Besides Cade Cunningham headed to the NBA, Ferron Flavors Jr. now in the transfer portal, and barring any other departures, Mike Boynton and Co. are set to return every other guy. Sure, Avery Anderson III entered his name into the NBA Draft hat, but he did so without an agent will most likely be coming back next season. But we’ll be taking a look at a way-too-early top 25 based on his return, which will no doubt change should he decide to leave.

Seth Davis of The Athletic took a crack at predicting how the 2021-22 season will look like. There shouldn’t be any surprise at his top teams, Gonzaga, Michigan, UCLA, Purdue and Duke. Most of those teams lose very little to no guys going into next season.

As for the Pokes, Davis has them sitting comfortably at No. 16.

Obviously losing Cade Cunningham is a tough blow as he’s the Big 12 Freshman and Player of the Year, as well as the recipent of several national awards. However, Boynton and Co. return Avery Anderson III, who finished the season just about as hot as anyone in the country, Kalib Boone, who saw increased performance as the season went along, freshmen Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Rondel Walker, who should see a significant leap up into their sophomore seasons, and leader Isaac Likekele. When healthy, Likekele is one of the more dangerous players in the Big 12 play.

Boynton and Co. are also chasing several top transfers going into the spring signing period.

“Cunningham will not be easily replaced, but Mike Boynton will bring back the bulk of the team that earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Likekele will need to bounce back from a disappointing season in which he had a hard time playing off the ball beside Cunningham. Anderson was the team’s second-best player over the last few weeks, and Moncrieffe and Walker are headed for breakout sophomore seasons. On the flip side, the school still has not gotten a verdict on its appeal of the NCAA’s one-year postseason ban. If that appeal is turned down, Oklahoma State could face a significant exodus.” - Seth Davis.

It is important to note the NCAA’s decision on OSU’s appeal. The Cowboys face a one-year postseason ban should the NCAA decline to overturn its decision from June 2020 and that certainly could impact the roster going into next season.

Other than Likekele and Bryce Williams, who has yet to make a decision on returning next season, the Cowboys were extremely young last season. We saw a lot of growth from the start of the season to the end, which resulted in several top-10 and top-20 upsets, including a sweep of OU and Texas Tech, beating WVU back-to-back and beating Baylor in the Big 12 semifinals.

Obviously the Pokes checking in at No. 16 is an opinion based on how the finished season and possible returners, but Boynton and Co. certainly have a good roster setup going into next season.

Davis has the rest of the Big 12 teams ranked as followed: No. 6 Kansas, No. 7 Baylor and No. 23 West Virginia.