The Oklahoma State Cowboys men’s basketball team made it official on Friday as they unveiled their 14-game non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 season.
Several of the games were already reported by other outlets. The Cowboys have been connected to their multi-team event in Charleston since May. But Friday was the official drop.
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The NCAA allowed teams to begin scheduling up to 14 non-conference games this season, up from 13 games. That allowed the Cowboys to play a 32-game schedule, along with Big 12 action.
Outside of that, the schedule is filled with opportunities and pitfalls as Oklahoma State tries to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. Here are some of those opportunities and some of those pitfalls.
The Opportunities
The Cowboys landed a schedule that is likely to net them at least four high-major non-conference opponents, and perhaps five, depending on how things go in Charleston.
The three guaranteed games are the road trip to College Station to face Texas A&M and the neutral site games against Oklahoma and northwestern. All should be Quad 1 or Quad 2 opportunities for the Cowboys for NCAA Net rankings. Those won’t be updated until early December.
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The wild card is in Charleston. There are four other high major teams in the field, and the Cowboys are unlikely to play two of them – Utah, which is in the Big 12, and Northwestern, which OSU plays in December. So if Oklahoma State wants to land two more high-major opponents they’ll need to play Minnesota and Virginia Tech.
Dayton is the only non-high major in the event, and the Flyers are really good. But if the desire is to rack up games against high majors that are winnable and won’t negatively impact the Cowboys NCAA Net rating going into Big 12 play, those are the games they want.
The Pitfalls
One pitfall comes early in the season while the other two hit the Cowboys in December. That first pitfall is the home game with Central Arkansas on Nov. 16. It comes a few days after the road trip to Texas A&M. The Bears won a share the ASUN regular season title last year and won 22 games. They could give the Cowboys real trouble especially if they’re still dealing with the fallout of a loss to the Aggies.
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Oklahoma State scheduled two great mid-major opponents in December ajd both had the ability to upend the Cowboys. In a four-game span Oklahoma State will host Grand Canyon on Dec. 2 and the Saint Mary’s on Dec. 5.
GCU is coached by Bryce Drew, the younger brother of Baylor head coach Scott Drew, and they’ve been to the NCAA Tournament four times in six years.
Saint Mary’s has been to the NCAA tournament each of the last five seasons but it’s undergoing a coaching change. Their former coach, Randy Bennett, is now the head coach of Big 12 rival Arizona State.
These three games represent the three biggest pitfalls on Oklahoma State’s non-conference schedule. A loss in any of these three games could hurt the Cowboys when it comes to their NCAA Net rating, depending upon where these teams are ranked.
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Oklahoma State 2026-27 Men’s Non-Conference Basketball Schedule
Kanye Clary. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
(Home Games in bold)
Oct. 11 vs. New Mexico (scrimmage)
Oct. 23 vs. Tulsa (scrimmage)
Oct. 27 at Wisconsin (scrimmage)
Nov. 2 vs. Incarnate Word
Nov. 6 Queens (NC)
Nov. 12 at Texas A&M
Nov. 16 vs. Central Arkansas
Nov. 20-22, Rays Children’s Charleston Classic
(Field includes Dayton, Minnesota, Northwestern, Utah and Virginia Tech; OSU will play two games)
Nov. 25 vs. Jackson State
Nov. 29 vs. Tennessee State
Dec. 2 vs. Grand Canyon
Dec. 5 vs. Saint Mary’s
Dec. 12 vs. Oklahoma (at Oklahoma City)
Dec. 16 vs. Oral Roberts
Dec. 20 vs. Northwestern (at Tulsa)
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Dec. 29 vs. Houston Christian
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahomastate as Assessing Opportunities, Pitfalls of Oklahoma State’s Non-Conference Schedule.
