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Oklahoma State basketball: USC game highlights OSU quality schedule

By John Scimeca

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 30: Evan Mobley #4 of the USC Trojans dribbles against Corey Kispert #24 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the Elite Eight round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 30, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 30: Evan Mobley #4 of the USC Trojans dribbles against Corey Kispert #24 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the Elite Eight round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 30, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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The Oklahoma State basketball team will take on Southern California at the newly renamed Paycom Center (formerly Chesapeake Arena) in downtown Oklahoma City this upcoming season as part of the “Compete 4 Cause Classic,” it was announced recently. The game will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and is part of a double-header that includes a game between Tulsa and North Texas.

The game vs. USC gives head coach Mike Boynton and the new-look Cowboys an even more formidable non-conference schedule for the 2021-2022 season. OSU already had games scheduled against power conference teams such as N.C. State, Florida, and Xavier and against Oral Roberts, who made it to the Sweet 16 of last spring’s NCAA Tournament.

Oklahoma State basketball has made a habit of scheduling strong non-conference opponents, as evidenced by the announced game vs. USC this December.

The Trojans advanced to the Elite 8 last March by defeating Drake, Kansas, and Oregon each by double figures. Led by 7-foot center Evan Mobley, the Trojans capped a 25-8 season with a loss to the eventual national runner-up, Gonzaga, in the Elite 8. Mobley would go on to be selected as the No. 3 overall selection of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Florida has made it to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and has had impressive stability on the sideline — the Gators have had only two head coaches since 1996, former Thunder boss Billy Donovan and current coach Michael White, who’s entering his seventh season in Gainesville, Fla. Florida can also claim several current NBA players, such as the Wizards’ Bradley Beal.

From 2014 to 2018, Xavier of the Big East made each NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 twice during that span. In the past decade, North Carolina State has won 20 or more games in all but three years, a stretch in which the Wolfpack advanced to two Sweet 16s.

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And of course, OSU fans are probably familiar with the exploits of the ORU Golden Eagles, who upset No. 2 seed Ohio State in the first round as a No. 15 seed before just barely losing to Arkansas in the Sweet 16, 72-70.

Arranging the USC game at a neutral site (even if it is in the friendly confines of Oklahoma City) shows OSU’s strategy for the fifth year of the Mike Boynton era: the Cowboys will continue to compile a rigorous non-conference path in addition to conference play in the Big 12, largely considered to be one of the most competitive leagues in the nation.

In 2014, 2015, and 2017, in the Cowboys’ three previous trips to the Big Dance under either Travis Ford or Brad Underwood, the team failed to put together a winning record in Big 12 play, going either 8-10 or 9-9 against conference foes. That changed last season, when Boynton and the Pokes finished with a 21-9 (11-5 Big 12) record, the team’s first winning mark in league play in eight seasons.

Under Boynton in just the last two seasons, OSU’s non-conference slate has included an impressive array of quality programs, many of which are regulars in the NCAA Tourney: Houston, Georgetown, Marquette, Syracuse, and Ole Miss.

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