JimBob
02-26-2008, 08:09 AM
Cowboys improved, but need more wins
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
2/26/2008
Last Modified: 2/26/2008 2:22 AM
Resurgent Oklahoma State would have to make history in order to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Cowboys are sitting on 12 defeats and no Big 12 team with more than 12 losses has ever secured an at-large bid. Zero, it seems, is the margin for error.
But a late season resurrection project has at least put the Cowboys in position to pursue an invitation to a postseason tournament.
Only two weeks ago, OSU owned a losing record and the Big 12's worst RPI (152). The RPI is a power ranking used as a tool to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament.
Consecutive victories over Baylor, Texas A&M and Kansas moved OSU within one game of fourth place in the Big 12 standings and goosed the Cowboys' RPI to 90, according to Collegerpi.com.
"That's a sign of coaching," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Anyone can coach when things are going well. The real coaches are the ones who can get something out of their team when things aren't going well. They've put themselves back in the game, and that's a credit to their staff."
Back in the game? How about back in Bracketville?
OSU coach Sean Sutton was asked during a Big 12 teleconference Monday what the Cowboys had to do in order to give the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee something to think about.
"I think winning the next four games gets us on the radar for sure because that means we would have won eight out of nine coming down the stretch and seven in a row over some really good teams," he said. "By no means are we there yet."
Sutton said OSU still has huge games to play and the biggest is Tuesday at Missouri. Win that game, and it sets the table for consecutive home games against Nebraska and Oklahoma and finally, a road game at Texas.
Jerry Palm of Collegerpi.com said it's not possible to predict exactly how much OSU could improve its RPI by sweeping remaining games, but he guessed its RPI would be in the neighborhood of 60. "And they would definitely be on the (NCAA) radar at that point," he said in an e-mail.
A team can usually feel somewhat good about an at-large bid if it has an RPI in the 30s, although Missouri State got snubbed with a 21 RPI in 2006. The teams with the worst RPIs ever to gain at-large bids were New Mexico (74 in 1999) and Air Force (70 in 2004), according to Palm.
Stanford got in last year despite an RPI of 63. Fifteen teams with better RPIs (including OSU) got left out last season, so RPI certainly isn't the only determining factor.
Going 4-0 the rest of the regular season would upgrade OSU's resume to 18-12 overall and 9-7 in league games. Since the Big 12 was formed, OSU has never gotten into the NCAA Tournament with less than 20 wins. Besides winning remaining regular season games, Sutton said OSU needs to be strong in the league tournament.
"I don't know if that's winning two games, three games, maybe having to win it all," he said. "I don't know. But we are trying to take it one game at a time and see if we can't continue to get better every day and see if we can't continue this winning streak."
OSU's win over KU was its first over a top-five team since beating Syracuse on Dec. 7, 2004.
"This could really jump-start something special," senior forward Marcus Dove said. "We've got four games left and we have a chance to win all those. Then at the Big 12 Tournament anything can happen (and hopefully) we'll get in the (NCAA) Tournament, but we know we have a long way to go. This is just the tip of the iceberg, so we are not going to get complacent. We are going to come in here and keep working hard and try to get better."
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Jimmie Tramel 581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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OKLAHOMA ST. POSTSEASON RESUME
Record: Record: 14-12 overall, 5-7 Big 12.
RPI: 90 (collegerpi.com).
Best wins: Just two weeks ago, OSU had zero wins against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. Now the Cowboys have three consecutive wins against teams with top 50 RPIs, beating Baylor (34), Texas A&M (47) and Kansas (8) in succession.
Worst losses: OSU lost three games to teams ranked below 100 in Collegerpi.com. Iowa State is 139, Illinois is 140 and North Texas is 141.
Current projection: OSU would not be in the NCAA Tournament field if selections were made today.
Remaining schedule
Feb. 26 at Missouri: OSU has lost four of the last five games in the series and hasn't won in Columbia since 2000. The Cowboys are seeking their first consecutive Big 12 road victories since 2005. March 1 vs. Nebraska: OSU has lost three consecutive regular season games to Nebraska, but routed the Cornhuskers in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament last season.
March 5 vs. Oklahoma: OSU will have a chance to secure its fourth victory over a team with a top 50 RPI. OU's RPI is 27.
March 9 at Texas: OSU let one get away against Texas when the teams met at Gallagher-Iba Arena earlier this season. The Cowboys suffered double-digit defeats in each of their last three trips to Austin.
Path to NIT: A total of 98 teams are rewarded with either NCAA and NIT invitations. Thus, it stands to reason that the Cowboys should be a candidate for an least an NIT bid if they can stay in the top 100 of the RPI. If the Pokes finish with a losing record, forget it.
Path to NCAA: The only sure way OSU can reach the NCAA is by winning the Big 12 Tournament. Sure, the Selection Committee pays extra attention to how you finish. But even if the Cowboys can win remaining regular season games and win a couple of games in the Big 12 Tournament, a so-so nonconference resume may prove difficult to overcome.
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
2/26/2008
Last Modified: 2/26/2008 2:22 AM
Resurgent Oklahoma State would have to make history in order to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Cowboys are sitting on 12 defeats and no Big 12 team with more than 12 losses has ever secured an at-large bid. Zero, it seems, is the margin for error.
But a late season resurrection project has at least put the Cowboys in position to pursue an invitation to a postseason tournament.
Only two weeks ago, OSU owned a losing record and the Big 12's worst RPI (152). The RPI is a power ranking used as a tool to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament.
Consecutive victories over Baylor, Texas A&M and Kansas moved OSU within one game of fourth place in the Big 12 standings and goosed the Cowboys' RPI to 90, according to Collegerpi.com.
"That's a sign of coaching," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Anyone can coach when things are going well. The real coaches are the ones who can get something out of their team when things aren't going well. They've put themselves back in the game, and that's a credit to their staff."
Back in the game? How about back in Bracketville?
OSU coach Sean Sutton was asked during a Big 12 teleconference Monday what the Cowboys had to do in order to give the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee something to think about.
"I think winning the next four games gets us on the radar for sure because that means we would have won eight out of nine coming down the stretch and seven in a row over some really good teams," he said. "By no means are we there yet."
Sutton said OSU still has huge games to play and the biggest is Tuesday at Missouri. Win that game, and it sets the table for consecutive home games against Nebraska and Oklahoma and finally, a road game at Texas.
Jerry Palm of Collegerpi.com said it's not possible to predict exactly how much OSU could improve its RPI by sweeping remaining games, but he guessed its RPI would be in the neighborhood of 60. "And they would definitely be on the (NCAA) radar at that point," he said in an e-mail.
A team can usually feel somewhat good about an at-large bid if it has an RPI in the 30s, although Missouri State got snubbed with a 21 RPI in 2006. The teams with the worst RPIs ever to gain at-large bids were New Mexico (74 in 1999) and Air Force (70 in 2004), according to Palm.
Stanford got in last year despite an RPI of 63. Fifteen teams with better RPIs (including OSU) got left out last season, so RPI certainly isn't the only determining factor.
Going 4-0 the rest of the regular season would upgrade OSU's resume to 18-12 overall and 9-7 in league games. Since the Big 12 was formed, OSU has never gotten into the NCAA Tournament with less than 20 wins. Besides winning remaining regular season games, Sutton said OSU needs to be strong in the league tournament.
"I don't know if that's winning two games, three games, maybe having to win it all," he said. "I don't know. But we are trying to take it one game at a time and see if we can't continue to get better every day and see if we can't continue this winning streak."
OSU's win over KU was its first over a top-five team since beating Syracuse on Dec. 7, 2004.
"This could really jump-start something special," senior forward Marcus Dove said. "We've got four games left and we have a chance to win all those. Then at the Big 12 Tournament anything can happen (and hopefully) we'll get in the (NCAA) Tournament, but we know we have a long way to go. This is just the tip of the iceberg, so we are not going to get complacent. We are going to come in here and keep working hard and try to get better."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jimmie Tramel 581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OKLAHOMA ST. POSTSEASON RESUME
Record: Record: 14-12 overall, 5-7 Big 12.
RPI: 90 (collegerpi.com).
Best wins: Just two weeks ago, OSU had zero wins against teams in the top 50 of the RPI. Now the Cowboys have three consecutive wins against teams with top 50 RPIs, beating Baylor (34), Texas A&M (47) and Kansas (8) in succession.
Worst losses: OSU lost three games to teams ranked below 100 in Collegerpi.com. Iowa State is 139, Illinois is 140 and North Texas is 141.
Current projection: OSU would not be in the NCAA Tournament field if selections were made today.
Remaining schedule
Feb. 26 at Missouri: OSU has lost four of the last five games in the series and hasn't won in Columbia since 2000. The Cowboys are seeking their first consecutive Big 12 road victories since 2005. March 1 vs. Nebraska: OSU has lost three consecutive regular season games to Nebraska, but routed the Cornhuskers in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament last season.
March 5 vs. Oklahoma: OSU will have a chance to secure its fourth victory over a team with a top 50 RPI. OU's RPI is 27.
March 9 at Texas: OSU let one get away against Texas when the teams met at Gallagher-Iba Arena earlier this season. The Cowboys suffered double-digit defeats in each of their last three trips to Austin.
Path to NIT: A total of 98 teams are rewarded with either NCAA and NIT invitations. Thus, it stands to reason that the Cowboys should be a candidate for an least an NIT bid if they can stay in the top 100 of the RPI. If the Pokes finish with a losing record, forget it.
Path to NCAA: The only sure way OSU can reach the NCAA is by winning the Big 12 Tournament. Sure, the Selection Committee pays extra attention to how you finish. But even if the Cowboys can win remaining regular season games and win a couple of games in the Big 12 Tournament, a so-so nonconference resume may prove difficult to overcome.