Cowboys Back in Lunardi’s Bracket, Move Up in Major Metrics after Bedlam Win

Don’t look now, but the Cowboys have won four of five and are back in Joe Lunardi’s bracket.

After the Cowboys’ 71-61 win in Norman on Wednesday night, Lunardi has Oklahoma State as the last team in when he released his Thursday bracket. But aside from bracket predictions, the Cowboys have also climbed some of college basketball’s major metrics in recent weeks.

OSU is ranked 39th in the NET, jumping six spots after their Bedlam win. The Cowboys secured their third Quadrant 1 win on Wednesday, bumping them up to 3-6 in Quad 1 games. OSU ranks eighth among Big 12 teams in the NET ranking. The Pokes are behind West Virginia — a team that sits pretty in metrics despite being 2-7 in conference play thanks to the Mountaineers 5-9 record in Quad 1.

The Cowboys are ranked ahead of the Mountaineers in KenPom. There, OSU ranks 32nd nationally and seventh nationally in defensive efficiency. KenPom projects the Cowboys will finish 8-10 in conference play.

OSU ranks 30th in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, which puts the Pokes seventh in the Big 12 — somehow ahead of Kansas State but behind West Virginia.

Although all of OSU’s upcoming games will be important for its NCAA Tournament resume come Selection Sunday, these metrics would suggest that the Cowboys’ game against the Mountaineers on Feb. 20 in Morgantown could be important if the committee is deciding between the two squads.

But the Pokes have five games before that meeting, so things could be different by then. Up next is TCU at 1 p.m. Saturday in Gallagher-Iba Arena.