Final Thoughts: Oklahoma State athletics
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Football:
It’s hard to say that this year’s team was anything but disappointing. The year began with thoughts that OSU had a realistic chance to go on the road and beat Georgia (now in the top 5 in the nation), maybe contend for the Big12 South, maybe even go to a BCS bowl. It didn’t work out that way. Sure, the Pokes could’ve been in a three-way tie for the South if they’d beaten OU, which they didn’t, but that possibility was only the result of a weak year for Oklahoma and Texas. The Cowboys lost games they should have won to Texas A&M and Texas, and finished the regular season with the exact record (6-6) as last year. To be fair, they had injury issues, but great teams can overcome that, and sadly, we didn’t. I still think the program is headed in the right direction overall, but this can’t be a banner year for recruiting.
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Men’s Basketball:
Well, the team’s off to a 2-3 start, so it’d be easy to pick on them, but I’ll choose not to. Yes, the loss to North Texas was embarrassing, and yes, I was frustrated that the Cowboys weren’t at least more competitive in Maui. But it’s still a young team, and they all at least seem to care. Last year, egos dominated the Pokes, and a promising team fell apart as the year went along. This year should be different. The Cowboys are taking their lumps now, but hopefully they’re learning from their mistakes and will grow as the season goes on. This squad still shows a lot of promise, and while there’s going to be more frustrations along the way, I’m not giving up on them yet.
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Women’s Basketball:
Finally, we come to my favorite OSU sports team (I don’t think I could have pictured myself saying that about women’s basketball five years ago, but now I really mean it). This is an incredibly fun team to watch. Andrea Riley is an exciting dynamo at point guard that seemingly cannot be stopped. Maria Cordero and Danielle Green are good scoring threats, Shaunte Smith dominates the glass for rebounds, and Taylor Hardeman is a great 3-point shooter. That’s all before you even get to freshman guard Kristin Hernandez, who showed her potential by scoring 25 points in the first game of the year. The team has already picked up some huge road victories, and they’re looking really impressive. And they’ll need to be impressive, because the Big 12 is tough
. It’ll be hard for any team to make it through that conference, but keep in mind that OSU barely lost to Texas A&M in both games last year, and the Aggies won the Big 12. So the Cowgirls are close to being where they need to be, talent-wise. Most importantly, they play great together as a team (certainly better than any other team on campus). My prediction? The Cowgirls head back to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 7:16 PM and filed under Oklahoma State athletics
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