OSU Baseball: Where the Cowboys Project in the NCAA Field

The Cowboys have yet to miss a regional under coach Josh Holliday and Pokes are once again a lock to appear in postseason play.

This would mark the team’s 13th consecutive regional berth under Holliday and the program’s 51st overall regional appearance. When the Cowboys hear their name called on the selection show, it seems likely they will face an SEC foe.

D1Baseball projects Oklahoma State to finish as the No. 2 seed in the Starkville, Mississippi Regional which would pit the Pokes, seeded 22nd overall, against 12th overall seed Mississippi State. OSU’s only game against the Bulldogs came last season in Houston during March when the Cowboys won 9-7.

Meanwhile, Baseball America projects the Cowboys to finish as the 25th overall seed facing off against the eighth overall seeded Florida Gators. Oklahoma State is 1-2 overall in the series with the lone win coming at home in the 2024 regional when OSU won 7-1 before dropping subsequent games 5-2 and 4-2.

Since those projections came out, the Cowboys beat Oral Roberts 12-7 to earn their sixth win in seven games. Considering ORU ranks 167th overall in RPI, and upcoming opponent Arizona ranks 189th, it’s unlikely the Pokes, currently ranked 21st by D1Baseball, can move up too much at this stage.

However, it would seem that as long as they take care of business this weekend, Oklahoma State is a heavy favorite to receive the second-highest seed wherever the Cowboys get assigned in regional play.

The Cowboys enter the final weekend of the regular season, fifth in the conference standings and seem likely to remain there barring an upset by a team with a 37% winning percentage in conference play (or worse) this weekend over either the Cowboys or another team inside the Big 12’s top five.

Oklahoma State’s most likely first-round opponent would be either Arizona State, ranked 22nd overall and 47th in RPI, or UCF unranked and 31st in RPI. The Cowboys beat the Sun Devils twice on the road just last week, but dropped all three against UCF in Orlando during mid-March.

A win over either would certainly boost the Cowboys’ postseason fates, giving them a better draw in the regional round while also extending their conference tournament.