Oklahoma State Benefits From New Big 12
Few are talking about the effect of the new ten team Big 12 on basketball. For this year at least, losing Nebraska and Colorado makes this a pretty darn good basketball conference. Those two schools were not basketball powerhouses by any means and they rarely made any noise in the Big 12. The result is a tough, tough conference. Heading into the 2011-2012 campaign, Oklahoma State is one of those teams that could benefit from the tougher schedule. Many are on the fence about the Cowboys and their NCAA potential this season.
That pretty much puts them on the bubble until proven otherwise. The big question is how many Big 12 teams can get into the NCAA Tournament? The conference should have a pretty good RPI, but those mid-level teams will be fighting to at least garner a .500 record in conference play. Anything less than that probably leads to the NIT, not the NCAA Tournament.
The good news for the Cowboys is that they are a young team that needs to grow up a little bit. A tougher conference slate will give OSU opportunities to make a run later in the year when players like C.J. Guerrero, Le’Bryan Nash and Philip Jurick are more comfortable in their roles. Oklahoma State has the luxury of losing some early games and still making a run later in the year in order to reach the NCAA Tournament. This group plays Kansas twice in February and when they need a big win they will have that opportunity. They still need to go at least 9-9 in conference play, and that will not be easy, but at least by January Coach Travis Ford should have the kinks worked out and his athletic team will have found their groove.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
