Oklahoma State Hoping to Earn At-Large Bid in NCAA Tournament

Oklahoma State has been one of the top programs in college baseball in recent years, but its fate hangs in the balance in 2025.

The Cowboys had one of the worst regular seasons in the Josh Holliday era, going just 27-22 and spending a large chunk of the season below or right at .500. Considering the Cowboys’ losing ways for much of the season, it seemed like OSU would almost certainly be on the outside looking in of the NCAA Tournament.

An automatic bid from winning the Big 12 Tournament looked to be the only way OSU would make it in just a few weeks ago. However, a late-season surge has OSU in the running to earn an at-large bid.

Regardless of whether OSU makes the NCAA Tournament, the season was mostly a disappointment in Stillwater. OSU was expected to compete for a Big 12 title and was even the preseason favorite to repeat as Big 12 champions.

After struggling to compete with most of the conference throughout the first couple of months, the Cowboys’ late turnaround was nearly too little, too late. Yet, the Cowboys are still in a position to make the NCAA Tournament and turn the season around at least somewhat.

While an NCAA Tournament bid wouldn’t change the fact that OSU fans were unhappy with the team for most of the year, it would be arguably one of the most impressive accomplishments of the Holliday era.

Sure, the Cowboys’ most recent years have consisted of early exits in the Stillwater Regional and plenty of criticism directed at OSU’s head man. While his team failed to meet expectations for much of the year, the Cowboys began looking like the team people anticipated after almost everyone had counted them out.

Sitting at 18-21 going into the series finale at Cincinnati in late April, no one expected the Cowboys to climb the Big 12 standings and win a conference tournament game. And there was definitely no one expecting OSU to be in a solid position to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

The Cowboys’ late surge might not be enough to get them in, but it should be enough to make their fans proud of how they’ve battled through adversity in the final weeks of the season.