Cowgirls a 7 Seed in ESPN’s Updated Bracketology

With three regular season games and the Big 12 Tournament still to play, the Cowgirls are putting the finishing touches on their NCAA Tournament resume.

Oklahoma State was a projected 7 seed in ESPN’s latest bracketology that updated Friday morning. That comes after the Cowgirls’ big win in Salt Lake City on Tuesday against a Utes team that is also a projected 7 seed, according to ESPN.

The worldwide leader has seven Big 12 teams in the field and another two on the outside looking in from the bubble. Despite OSU ranking fourth in the Big 12 standings, there are actually four conference foes ahead of the Cowgirls in the projected field. TCU is a 2 seed, Kansas State is a 4 seed, West Virginia is a 5 seed and Baylor is a 6 seed. Iowa State is the seventh Big 12 squad featured as an 11 seed and part of ESPN’s “Last Four In.”

The Cowgirls host Colorado on Saturday. It’s a game that’s important for both teams, as at 17-9, the Buffaloes are in ESPN’s “Next Four Out,” being the sixth team out of the tournament.

OSU’s final two regular season games (vs. Cincinnati and at Kansas) are against teams that aren’t in the projected field, but OSU can’t afford to look past anyone. The Cowgirls lost to Kansas at home in early January. Even this past weekend, OSU dropped a game to BYU, a team that is 13-13 this season. But the most shining example of OSU running into struggles against lesser teams is the Cowgirls’ loss to Houston. It’s the Cougars’ only Big 12 win, and they are 5-21 this season.

But with all that being said, the Cowgirls also have a lot of good wins. OSU is 5-2 in Quad 1 games, making it one of 10 teams with at least five Q1 victories. The Cowgirls rank 24th in the NET and have wins against Kansas State (seventh in the NET), TCU (ninth) and West Virginia (12th). Among the 10 teams with at least five Quad-1 wins, OSU is tied with LSU for sixth in terms of Quad-1 win percentage.

“I still think there’s quite a bit of basketball to be played out, but man, we are down a really important home stretch here, right?” said OSU coach Jacie Hoyt on Thursday. “Everything for us is about going 1-0. I think the obvious answer for us is we’ve learned a very, very hard way we can’t overlook anyone. Our pretty much only losses in conference were to teams that on paper, we shouldn’t have lost to. I really don’t want to get caught up in that, and I know our players don’t either. But the message for us right now is that we can control our own destiny. We’ve got a path ahead of us that we feel if we can finish strong, then that’s definitely going to help going into the tournament.

“Seedings are so important. It’s not just about your record but who’s playing well as of lately. That’s what we’re really gonna be laser-focused on moving forward is just how we can continue to play our best basketball.”

Up Next

Opponent: Colorado
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday
Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena
Watch: ESPN+