Bracketology 2021: Oklahoma, Illinois, Virginia Tech among big winners
By Joey Loose
Oklahoma State
As we mentioned, the Big 12 has some great teams while the bottom of the league has been quite disappointing this season. The play of both Iowa State and Kansas State has been abysmal, though TCU has shown signs of life in recent weeks. Fortunately, Oklahoma State has not been a member of that disappointing group and is working its way into potential contention.
The Cowboys have been playing for several weeks without stud freshman Cade Cunningham, not having him in their road win over Iowa State earlier this week. He was finally back on Saturday, scoring 21 points in the Cowboy’s win over an Arkansas program that’s looked great at times this year.
After these two victories, Oklahoma State now sits at 11-4, with a respectable 4-4 mark in the tough Big 12. The Cowboys have only lost once in the last three weeks and are certainly playing much-improved basketball, especially with Cunningham back in the fold. In the long run, their home loss to TCU may be a bit of a black eye, but this team has already scored big wins over Kansas and Texas Tech.
It’s very possible that the Big 12 gets seven teams in the NCAA Tournament, and this Oklahoma State team may be the seventh unless Kansas doesn’t get their act together. The Cowboys still have a gauntlet of harsh Big 12 games, including a pair of matchups with rival Oklahoma.
There’s no telling what will even happen with this squad, who were banned from postseason play but are appealing that ruling. If they can play, Cunningham and these Cowboys have shown that they can hang with some of the big dogs, but will they get that chance?