Is it NCAA Tournament or Bust for Cowboy Basketball Next Season?

Oklahoma State has had a rough few seasons, and making the NCAA Tournament seems to be the only goal that matters moving forward.

Since the Cowboys made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five seasons in 2017, they have only made it back to the big dance once in the past eight years. That 2021 campaign featured the nation’s top player Cade Cunningham leading the team, and his one-and-done year marked a temporary peak for OSU basketball.

Of course, the Cowboys have made many changes over the past few years. They’ve changed coaches, bringing in Steve Lutz before last season, and have seen immense roster changes in the era of the transfer portal each season.

All that said, the Cowboys seem to be turning a corner as Lutz enters his second season at the helm. Over this offseason, OSU has addressed its issues from last season and added plenty of scoring talent while still keeping its defensive identity.

These offseason moves have also brought some fire into a fanbase that has longed for a competitive basketball team again. After fighting through adversity last season to go 7-3 in Big 12 home games, the Cowboys managed a spot in the NIT, where they lost in the quarterfinals and narrowly missed out on finishing the year with a winning record.

After OSU went 12-20 in Mike Boynton’s final season, last season was considered a success for the Cowboys. However, the next and most obvious step in a rebuild would be to make the NCAA Tournament.

Considering how desperate the Cowboys are to taste the NCAA Tournament again, it might seem like next season is NCAA Tournament or bust. And that assumption would almost certainly be correct.

OSU has struggled to be a contender in the Big 12 for some time now, and re-establishing itself in Lutz’s second season as a tournament team could do wonders for the program. While development isn’t always linear, there isn’t much room for patience in this era of college basketball where veteran transfers rule the landscape.

Sure, the Cowboys missing the NCAA Tournament next year might not necessarily make for a disappointing season, but anything short of the big dance will be an unsuccessful season.