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Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament?

Could be.

Watch my latest video commentary or read below:

The Oklahoma State men’s basketball team finds itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

And the Cowboys couldn’t be happier.

Only a couple weeks ago, they weren’t just out of the NCAA Tournament discussion. They were out of the NIT discussion, too.

Now, after five consecutive wins and six wins in the past seven games, they’re on the NCAA bubble. It’s the far edge of the bubble where they have to hold on by a fingernail, but still, they’ve managed to get their hooks into it.

So, what now?

Lots of folks believe that the Cowboys have to win their last two regular season games, then win at least a couple games in the Big 12 tournament.

I’m not so sure.

OSU finishes the regular season this week with games at home against Oklahoma, then on the road at Texas. Do the Cowboys need to win both to keep any NCAA Tournament hopes alive?

Maybe not.

Consider this: Let’s say OSU wins Bedlam in Stillwater, then loses in Austin. Then, the Cowboys go to Kansas City and win a couple games before losing to a top-seed team such as Kansas or Texas. That would mean that the Cowboys would have won eight of their last 10 games, including home wins against Kansas and Oklahoma as well as road wins against Texas A&M and Missouri. And their losses during that closing stretch would be to potential No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

That’s a pretty darn good resume to put in front of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Now, would it help the Cowboys to win at Texas, then beat a team like Kansas in the conference tournament? Absolutely. I’m just not sure it’s a necessity.

Besides, this is a season without a bunch of slam-dunk at-large teams. The mid-major conferences, which have supplied an increasing number of at-large births over the past few years, aren’t as strong this season. Teams from major conferences that might never have gotten into the tournament in other years will make it this season.

So it could be for OSU. Work definitely remains for the Cowboys, but they’ve got a great opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament, even if they aren’t perfect the rest of the season.