Breaking Down Oklahoma State's Big 12 Tournament Path

Oklahoma State is ready for some postseason baseball.

On Saturday, OSU capped off its hot finish to the regular season with a win over Arizona State to complete the sweep of the Sun Devils. That series marked the third straight OSU won to finish the regular season, with the team winning nine of the final 10 regular season contests.

After being near the bottom of the Big 12 standings for a fair portion of conference play, the Cowboys’ fun finish was enough to get them back into the middle of the pack and set up a somewhat easier Big 12 Tournament run. OSU enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will look to make a statement in Arlington.

The Cowboys will begin their tournament path with a matchup against No. 10 seed Baylor, a team the Cowboys beat twice in three tries earlier this month. If the Cowboys can beat the Bears, they will face No. 2 seed Kansas in the next round. In the regular season, OSU was swept by Kansas in a three-game series in Lawrence, but that came back in March, and the Cowboys appear to be a different team. 

If OSU could escape Baylor and Kansas, it would likely face TCU in the semifinals before playing top-seeded West Virginia in the championship. OSU lost its lone game to West Virginia and never faced TCU, so it could have relatively blank slates heading into either of those matchups.

Even despite the Cowboys’ struggles early in the season, they still appear to be on track to make an NCAA Tournament appearance. While the past few years have been filled with disappointments and failures to escape the Stillwater Regional, this season will be much different.

Assuming the Cowboys have done enough already or will do enough in the Big 12 Tournament to secure their spot, they will be heading on the road for their Regional. While playing in front of their fans in Stillwater is ideal, that also comes with being the favorite. 

Considering how OSU has performed this season after being named the Big 12 preseason favorite, it might be best for the Cowboys to be an underdog and not have as much pressure on them. Still, the competition will be tough for the Cowboys at every stage this postseason, but with how well the team has played lately, OSU might be hitting its stride in time to make a deep run.