Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Texas Tech beats out Kansas for No. 1

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MORGANTOWN, WV – FEBRUARY 10: Lindy Waters III #21 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys reacts after hitting a three pointer against the West Virginia Mountaineers at the WVU Coliseum on February 10, 2018 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

9. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-8, 2-2 Conference Play)

Previous Ranking: No. 10

Is Oklahoma State better than we had assumed. Maybe so.

The Cowboys have split their first four league games of this season, most notably knocking off Texas at home on January 8th.

Losses to Iowa State and Oklahoma, two ranked teams, were expected, but Oklahoma State has done a good enough job of indicating that they aren’t content with spending the season in the cellar.

Additionally, the play of players not named Lindy Waters has been big for OSU. Isaac Likekele scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Cowboys’ last game, while Cameron McGriff recorded a double-double in the winning effort.

The production of those three players will need to be even bigger, as the school announced on Tuesday that graduate transfer guard Mike Cunningham would be leaving the program. Cunningham was averaging eight points per game, but hadn’t played in almost a month.

Regardless of the loss of Cunningham, its been a positive past two weeks for Oklahoma State. They haven’t beaten good teams, which is fine, but they’re winning games that they should win. If they can grab a handful of wins over teams that are clearly better than them, the Cowboys could find themselves on the bubble come March.

Much easier said than done, but there are loads of positive momentum in Stillwater right now.

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