STILLWATER — The Oklahoma State wrestling team is up to No. 3 in the nation after knocking off Iowa State last weekend. And the Cowboys will have another top-five dual this weekend. OSU hosts No. 24 Arizona State at 7 p.m. Friday before traveling to Missouri to face the No. 5 Tigers at 1 p.m. Sunday. OSU coach John Smith and 157-pounder Teague Travis met with reporters Wednesday to preview the weekend.

Carson Cunningham and Colby breakdown the 2024 football schedule and give their early thoughts on a potential W-L record. Plus, the guys react to OSU basketball’s loss at Kansas and evaluates the program as a whole.

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Thanks for stopping by – here’s your daily dose of Oklahoma State sports news.

Scores

MBB: Kansas 83, OSU 54

OSU Bullets

• OSU’s 2024 football schedule was released yesterday – Pokes start league play with a home game against Utah and wrap up in Boulder (PFB)

• You can add NBA all-star and head coach Chauncey Billups to the list of “almost played at OSU under Eddie” folks (Sellout Crowd)

• OSU came up just (29 points) short in Lawrence last night (ESPN)

• Here’s a little extra color on Zac Robinson’s situation coaching the Atlanta Falcon’s offense – he’ll have a real chance to shine:

With (head coach Raheem) Morris being a defensive-minded leader, the 37-year-old Robinson has a chance to show what he can do as an up-and-coming coach. He has been gifted several key playmakers, such as wide receiver Drake London, running back Bijan Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts. [CBS Sports]

• John Smith’s Pokes moved up a couple of spots in the top-five (PFB)

•  Cowboy Golf great Scott Verplank is starting a podcast – catching up on 40 years of golf (Sellout Crowd)

Non-OSU Bullets

• Two state ranking articles – average age of first marriage by state plus the five most popular dog breeds in each state
• Finished this marriage read yesterday – so good

BOX SCORE
GAME STORY

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Cowboys went into some heavy Phog and looked like they got lost.

Oklahoma State fell to Kansas 83-54 on Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse. It was a rough game for the Pokes from start to finish, as the No. 8 Jayhawks led for all but 30 seconds. Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. More Woeful Defense

These Jayhawks must love playing the Cowboys.

KU shot 58% from the field Tuesday, the third-highest shooting game the Cowboys have allowed this season (next to Kansas’ 62% and Texas Tech’s 59%). KU has outscored the Cowboys in the paint 90-38 across the teams’ two meetings.

Teams averaged 40% shooting against OSU last season. Thus far this season, teams are shooting 45% against the Pokes. The Pokes simply have a hard time staying in front of people. Sure, the group lost rim protection with Moussa Cisse transferring out, but a lot of the Cowboys’ defensive struggles are starting on the perimeter.

Boynton said the gameplan going into Tuesday was to force the Jayhawks to beat them from deep — and the Jayhawks did. KU went 8-for-18 from 3. KU started 4-for-5 from 3, which is essentially all it took to bust things open.

2. Thompson Goes Down Hard

Bryce Thompson went in for a fastbreak layup attempt about five minutes into the game against Kansas big Hunter Dickinson. Thompson hit the deck, a foul was called and as soon as he hit the hardwood in Allen Fieldhouse, he was squirming.

Thompson stayed down for some time before finally getting up and heading to the locker room. He didn’t return.

“It was significant enough he couldn’t come back,” OSU coach Mike Boynton said. “But we’ll get back to try to get an MRI or X-ray on it to make sure we know the exact severity of the damage, but it was the shoulder just to clarify that.

“… We hope he’s not out for a significant amount of time, but if he is, we’ll just have to adjust and be ready to compete without him.”

Thompson entered the night as the Cowboys’ second-leading scorer, averaging 12.2 points per game. He has also developed into a better defender in his time in Stillwater and was a major key in the Cowboys holding Raequan Battle, West Virginia’s leading scorer, to just two points on Saturday.

Not that Thompson would’ve made the 29-point difference Tuesday, but he was averaging 15.8 points a game against his old team. His absence certainly didn’t help, but the Cowboys’ problems spanned much wider than his absence.

3. OSU’s Player of the Game: John-Michael Wright

And it wasn’t particularly close.

Wright scored a team-high 16, going 4-for-10 from deep. He also scored his 2,000th career point Tuesday night (508 at OSU and 1,498 at High Point).

“I’m grateful to be able to hit that mark, a milestone in my career,” Wright said. “… It’s a good feeling, but I would have rather got the dub and had zero points.”

After scoring in double figures in six of OSU’s first seven games, Wright hit a wall, scoring just 2.5 points a game across the Cowboys next eight games. That stretch included three goose eggs.

But he has come on again as of late, as Tuesday was his fourth straight game in double figures. He is shooting 38% from 3 in OSU’s past four games.

4. Garrison Was Aggressive Early

Another part of the Cowboys’ gameplan going in was trying to get Hunter Dickinson — who also scored his 2,000th points Tuesday — into foul trouble.

To try to do that, the Cowboys force fed Brandon Garrison early, and it wasn’t going horribly. Garrison scored the Cowboys’ first seven points. He put up six shots at halftime — going into Tuesday the most he had shot in an entire game was eight, a number he tied against the Jayhawks.

Garrison finished Tuesday with 11 points, five rebounds, an assist and a pair of steals. Pair with his 20-point outing Saturday, this is the first time in Garrison’s young career that he has scored double figures in consecutive games.

5. K-State Is Winnable, but the Pokes Have to Play Better

If the Cowboys can get over the drumming that just took place, they’ll have a chance to pick up conference win No. 2 Saturday as they host Kansas State.

OSU had a 10-point lead on the Wildcats in Manhattan before a grotesque scoring slump saw the Wildcats escape with a 70-66 win.

Since, the Wildcats have lost three straight including a 73-53 loss to Oklahoma on Tuesday in Manhattan. The Wildcats scored just 19 points in the first half against the Sooners.

It’s hard to call anything a must-win game at this point, as it feels like the only chance the Cowboys have at making the NCAA Tournament is winning the Big 12 Tournament. But for the good of the program, the Cowboys need to right this ship at least a little bit. Tanking for a draft pick does the Pokes no good. And a poor finish in Big 12 play doesn’t make a Cinderella road in Kansas City any easier.

“Guess we’re getting close to the halfway point of conference play and need to start trying to put some consecutive wins together if we’re going to get in the thick of this thing,” Boynton said.

Mike Boynton’s Postgame News Conference

BOX SCORE

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The good news for Oklahoma State fans is that they don’t have to watch their team play the Jayhawks anymore this season.

Kansas rolled past the Cowboys 83-54 on Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. It was dominant from start to finish, as KU led for 39:30 of the 40 minutes, and the Jayhawks finished the game shooting 58% from the field, a number that hung around 70% for much of the first half. The loss moved the Cowboys to 9-12 overall and 1-7 in Big 12 play.

It’s the third-highest shooting percentage the Cowboys have allowed this season, trailing only the 62% they allowed against Kansas in Stillwater and the 59% they allowed against Texas Tech in Lubbock.

The Cowboys tried to keep up offensively early, as KU had a 12-10 lead just over five minutes into the game, but OSU’s offense cooled while remaining ice cold defensively. There was a stretch in the first half that saw KU hit seven baskets without missing. KU rattled off a 20-5 run midway through the first half that put an early nail in the Pokes’ coffin.

To add injury to insult, Bryce Thompson went down earl with a shoulder injury after getting fouled on a layup attempt and didn’t return.

The Jayhawks finished with five players in double figures with Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams leading the way with 16 points apiece.

John-Michael Wright led the way for the Cowboys with 16 points, going 4-for-10 from 3-point range. Brandon Garrison was the only other Cowboy in double figures, scoring 11.

OSU does return home for its next game, as the Cowboys will host Kansas State at 1 p.m. Saturday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Wildcats and Cowboys battled in Manhattan earlier this season, where K-State overcame a 10-point OSU lead to beat the Cowboys 70-66. Since that win against OSU, Kansas State has lost three in a row, including a 73-53 loss to Oklahoma in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The Cowboys keep going up.

Oklahoma State climbed from No. 5 to No. 3 in the latest NWCA coaches poll that was released Tuesday. The Pokes jumped No. 4 Iowa State after beating the Cyclones 21-12 on Saturday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. It was OSU’s second top-5 win of the season.

OSU moved up an extra spot thanks to No. 14 Cornell’s upset of No. 2 Missouri. Jumping to No. 3 gives OSU its highest ranking since the 2021-22 season.

With the Cowboys at 10-0, top-three teams Penn State, Iowa and OSU, respectively, are the last unbeaten teams left in the country. Also 10-0, Iowa will be in Stillwater on Feb. 25 for the Cowboys’ regular-season finale. OSU’s next five duals to finish the season are all against teams in the latest set of rankings, including No. 24 Arizona State, No. 5 Missouri, No. 11 South Dakota State, No. 22 Oklahoma and No. 2 Iowa. The Cowboys already have eight wins over teams in the current rankings.

Here’s a look at the full rankings.

College football is losing some great traditions with all the conference reshuffling, but the refreshed conferences and the expanded playoff also make this an exciting time in the college football landscape.

The new-look Big 12 released its schedule for the 2024 season on Tuesday. Here is a look at Oklahoma State’s schedule and five thoughts about it.

1. A Friday in Boulder

I actually want to start at the end: OSU’s trip to Boulder on Nov. 29, a Friday.

With all the Cowboys have returning, the expectations will be high for this squad. A trip to see Prime on what ought to be a cold Colorado evening could be a massive game if Deion Sanders and Co. can take a step forward this upcoming season. But even if the Buffaloes aren’t all that great in 2023, a Friday trip to altitude seems like one heck of a trap game. This could be what stands between OSU and a shot at a Big 12 title and a trip to the 12-team playoff.

Colorado went just 4-8 in Year 1 of the Prime era, losing its final six games of the year, but it’s undeniable that Sanders is an excellent recruiter. So at the very least, the Buffaloes will have some solid athletes to go up against the Pokes with.

2. Two Open Weeks

The Cowboys (and every other Big 12 team) have a pair of bye weeks this upcoming season. OSU will be open the weekends of Oct. 12 and Nov. 16.

It feels like as of late the Cowboys’ bye weeks have always come a bit too early (and there has been only one of them). If you got to pick, you’d probably prefer that first one especially to be a week or two earlier because by Oct. 12 the team will have been going for a while after you take fall camp into account. But players having two different breaks in the schedule seems great — especially thinking back to some of the injury struggles the Cowboys have had in recent seasons.

So, OSU will go six games, bye, four games, bye, two games. If OSU is competing for a Big 12 title, that late open week could be extra beneficial, but those opening six games to start are going to be a grind.

West Virginia got, I think, the perfect open week distribution, as the Mountaineers’ schedule is broken up into three four-week blocks with byes in between.

3. A Tough Start to the Year

The Cowboys and Utes ought to be the Big 12’s marquee matchup on Sept. 21, as (here in January) both teams are expected to compete atop the conference.

But even looking past that, the meat of OSU’s schedule appears to be there at the start of conference play. The Cowboys play Utah, Kansas State and West Virginia before their first open week. Those three teams went a combined 26-13 in 2023 — a 67% win percentage.

Then between byes, the Cowboys play BYU, Baylor, Arizona State and TCU. Those four went a combined 16-32 in 2023 — 33% win percentage.

OSU closes the year with Texas Tech and Colorado. Those two went a combined 11-14 in 2023 — a 44% win percentage.

Everyone in those first three games won at least eight games last season. No one in the final six won eight games.

All that is to say that if the Cowboys come out of that game against West Virginia in good standing, it should get easier from there. But that opening stretch looks like it’s going to be a grind.

4. One Home Game in Six Weeks?

The end of October/start of November is going to feel a little odd.

Starting with OSU’s first open week on Oct. 12, the Cowboys will play in Boone Pickens Stadium just once over a six-week period: their homecoming tilt against Arizona State on Nov. 2.

That bye turns into back-to-back road games at BYU and at Baylor before the Cowboys’ homecoming game. Then the Cowboys are on the road at TCU before their next bye week. It’s not a particularly rough stretch of the season, but it’ll just be a little weird watching one game in BPS during such a long stretch.

5. Way-Too-Early Prediction

I reserve the right to change this prediction as the season draws near, but my initial prediction upon seeing that schedule is 10-2.

I say the Cowboys start 3-0 through the noncon, though South Dakota State is probably going to put up quite the fight. Then I think OSU drops one of Utah, Kansas State and West Virginia, and I also think the Cowboys drop one more road game, whether that be in Provo, Waco, Fort Worth or Boulder.

If I had to order those last four road games in terms of danger, I’d go: Provo, Boulder, Fort Worth and then Waco. But without for sure knowing all these teams’ rosters at this point, I don’t want to pick specific games.

A 10-2 record ought to be good enough to get back to Arlington, which in turn means OSU should be in the mix for a spot in the expanded playoff. It looks to be a fun year.

The Cowboys’ conference opponents for 2024 have been known for some time, but now we have dates.

The Big 12 released its schedule for the 2024 football season on Tuesday. It’s Year 1 of the new-look league. Gone are Oklahoma and Texas, and in are Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah. Here is Oklahoma State’s full schedule for the 2024 season:

This is just the second meeting between OSU and Utah, and it has been a while. OSU crushed the Utes 46-6 in Salt Lake City during the 1945 season, so this will be Utah’s first trip to Stillwater.

From there, the Cowboys travel to Manhattan looking to right a wrong from 2022. OSU’s last trip to Manhattan saw the Wildcats drum the Pokes 48-0.

The Pokes then host West Virginia, as the Mountaineers will try to come up with some way to slow down Ollie Gordon. In two games against WVU, Gordon has rushed for 418 yards and five touchdowns.

Oct. 19 will be the Cowboys’ first trip to Provo and just their fourth meeting with BYU overall after hosting the Cougars last season. The other two times these teams met came on neutral fields — in the 1974 Fiesta Bowl and the 1976 Tangerine Bowl. OSU is 3-0 all-time against BYU.

Then the Cowboys head down to Waco after not playing Baylor in 2023. OSU is 8-9 in Waco all-time.

A Big 12 newcomer will get to take in America’s Greatest Homecoming when Arizona State comes to Stillwater Nov. 2. The Sun Devils are technically a newcomer to the conference, but this will be the third straight season OSU has played them. The Cowboys bested ASU 34-17 in Stillwater during the 2022 season before traveling to Tempe last year and beating the Sun Devils 27-15.

OSU’s last game in Fort Worth was a big one, as the Cowboys and Horned Frogs went to overtime in a top-15 matchup during the 2022 season. TCU ended up winning that one and propelling itself all the way to the national title game.

With OU gone from the conference, Texas Tech seems the most likely rival for the Cowboys moving forward — a game some are dubbing the Dust Bowl. The Cowboys and Red Raiders didn’t play in 2023. OSU has a 24-23-3 series advantage over Tech, and the Cowboys are 14-8 against the Red Raiders in Stillwater.

OSU closes the regular season with a trip to Boulder on a Friday night. It’s Cowboys first time in Boulder since the 2008 season back when Colorado was in the Big 12. The Cowboys are 8-13 in Boulder all-time.

There are also a pair of open dates on the schedule, with OSU getting byes the weekend of Oct. 12 and Nov. 16.