Bracketology: Palm, Lundari Have Pokes Out of NCAA Tournament Field after Fifth Straight Loss

After five losses on the bounce, the Cowboys have fallen out of the projected NCAA Tournament field, according to a pair of highly regarded bracketologists.

CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi each have the Cowboys in their “First Four Out” category after Oklahoma State lost to Baylor on Monday night in Stillwater. Palm has the Cowboys as the first team out of the field, while Lunardi has them as the second team out.

According to Palm, OSU fans should cheer against Michigan, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Mississippi State, the last teams in his projected field. Joining the Cowboys in Palm’s “First Four Out” category are Penn State, North Carolina and Arizona State.

As for Lunardi, he has North Carolina ahead of the Cowboys in his “First Four Out,” with Clemson and Michigan also in the category. Lundari’s “Last Four In” is a little different: Mississippi State, Boise State, Wisconsin and Arizona State. So, Lunardi thinks higher of Arizona State’s chances than Palm does, but Palm thinks higher of Boise State, who is in his projected field as an 11 seed.

Here is a more digestible look at all the bubble teams mentioned above heading into Tuesday’s games, ordered by NET ranking:

NET Ranking	Team	Conference	Record	Quad 1	Quad 2	Quad 3	Quad 4
23	West Virginia	Big 12	17-13	5-12	5-1	1-0	6-0
29	Boise State	Mountain West	21-7	2-3	7-2	6-2	6-0
39	Mississippi State	SEC	19-10	4-7	4-2	4-1	7-0
45	North Carolina	ACC	19-11	1-8	6-3	6-0	6-0
47	Oklahoma State	Big 12	16-14	5-11	3-2	3-1	5-0
54	Michigan	Big Ten	17-12	3-10	6-1	4-0	4-1
59	Penn State	Big Ten	17-12	3-7	4-5	5-0	5-0
60	Clemson	ACC	21-8	4-2	3-2	6-2	8-2
61	Arizona State	Pac-12	20-9	4-3	5-5	4-0	7-1
72	Wisconsin	Big Ten	16-12	6-6	4-5	1-1	5-0

So among those bubble teams, the Cowboys are middle of the pack in terms of NET ranking. If the selection committee likes Quad 1 wins, the Big 12 provides teams with ample opportunity as only Wisconsin has more than OSU and West Virginia, but the Cowboys and Mountaineers have had significantly more bites at that apple. The Badgers’ five Quad 2 losses and one Quad 3 loss are holding them back. The biggest thing holding OSU back is that pesky Quad 3 loss to Southern Illinois, a team that ranks 118th in the NET.

Although it might seem like a bad thing that Texas Tech, OSU’s next opponent, has won four of its past five, the Red Raiders provide OSU another opportunity to pick up a sixth Quad 1 win on Saturday. Tech is up to No. 55 in the NET and is in Lunardi’s “Next Four Out” category. Should OSU win in Lubbock and win a game in Kansas City, it might just be enough to get the Pokes in, at least according to projections. If the Cowboys could win Saturday and pick up a pair of wins in Kansas City, things look all the more promising. But a sixth straight loss to end the regular season would put the Cowboys on the back foot heading into the conference tournament.