It Should be a Rowdy Weekend in Gallagher-Iba Arena

For it only being early November, it should be a rather rowdy weekend inside the hallowed halls of Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The winter sport season is here. Oklahoma State’s basketball teams got going this work week, but after whetting the appetite, there are three marquee events in GIA this weekend. And fans would only need to make two trips to Stillwater to see them all:

Wrestling: No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 19 Stanford (7 p.m. Friday)
Men’s Basketball: Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M (1 p.m. Sunday)
Women’s Basketball: Oklahoma State vs. Oral Roberts (5 p.m. Sunday)

Wrestling vs. Stanford

It all starts Friday night when David Taylor’s second OSU team hosts a better-than-you-might-think Stanford squad.

There’s a chance half of Taylor’s lineup is made up of freshmen, but what the group might lack in experience, it makes up for in talent. And the Cowboys will host a Stanford team that brings in six wrestlers ranked in the top 18 of their respective weight classes, including a trio of top-six wrestlers. So, this dual provides OSU fans not only the opportunity to get a look at their new team, but it should also provide some high-level action.

If you went to duals last year, you’d know that Taylor upped the production value, and he said there will be some new things coming for his second year.

“We’re anticipating a great crowd to get our season started,” Taylor said this week. “I think that’s something that we talk about, we want to make wrestling a special thing. It’s special here at this university. Oklahoma State wrestling means a lot to the wrestling community. Looking forward to getting out there and wrestling again.

“We have a few new things that we’re adding to our production this year. We made, obviously, a big step up last year in making it more of an event, and this year we have a few new things, new wrinkles to add, new additions. I think that was one of the coolest things I got in the offseason is people really acknowledged how awesome and how fun it was to come to the dual meets. Big part of that is the product you put out there and how guys are wrestling, but also the in between and the before and after. We want it to be special for our guys. We want them to look forward to going out there but also we want the fans coming to enjoy what they’re watching.”

A high-level dual, an exciting young team and increased production value — what’s not to be excited about?

Men’s Basketball vs. Texas A&M

Maybe it was the fact that OSU beat Auburn in a preseason exhibition. Maybe it’s the fact that Steve Lutz and Co. have the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation. Maybe it’s the fact that the OSU football team stinks so fans need another place to put their passion. Whatever it is, there’s a palpable buzz around OSU basketball right now that I haven’t seen in a while.

Steve Lutz’s Cowboys — down three key contributors who could all be back Sunday — opened the season with a 95-71 win against Oral Roberts this week. It’s obviously early, but this looks to be perhaps OSU’s best offensive team since Cade Cunningham was running the show.

The momentum the Cowboys have been picking up could meet a tipping point this weekend when the Aggies travel up to Stillwater. Like the Stanford wrestling dual, this will provide an early test for this new-look Cowboy group. If the crowd is there and the Cowboys do perform, the snowball might be headed downhill.

“This is fun,” Lutz said. “This is what you’re doing it for. Let’s tee it up on Sunday afternoon, and let’s see how we do and let’s see how they do. Let’s pack GIA and make it a great atmosphere and just continue to build on what we did the other night in the second half against Oral Roberts. …

“We had a fantastic crowd against Oral Roberts, and I would like to hope that Sunday is going to be an orange-out, if I’m not mistaken. I’d like to hope that people are not doing anything Sunday afternoon after church. I’d like to think that they’re gonna come out. It’s a little bit different than a Tuesday night at 7 o’clock. I don’t really know of any excuses not to pack the arena.”

Women’s Basketball vs. Oral Roberts

The Cowgirls’ season started Monday, and they’re already 3-0.

It’s been a busy start to the year for Jacie Hoyt’s squad. The schedule hasn’t been overly tough, but the Cowgirls have done all you can ask — dominate.

OSU has outscored its first three opponents by a combined 169 points after clobbering Langston 105-35 on Thursday night — OSU’s second game in as many days.

Playing right after the men Sunday, OSU fans should think about staying around to watch this team that Hoyt has assembled that entered the year ranked 22nd — OSU’s first preseason AP ranking since 2014.

Here are just a few of the Cowboys’ ridiculous stats thus far this season:

• Five Cowgirls are averaging double figures
• OSU is outrebounding opponents on average 49.7-19
• The Cowgirls are shooting 43% from 3-point range
• OSU has assisted 72 times on 108 made baskets
• The Cowgirl defense is forcing 21.3 turnovers a game

“I say this to our team all the time, if you can, you should,” Hoyt said. “So, if you can score 100 points, you should. We don’t want to settle here.”