No. 14 Texas (12-2) heads to Stillwater, OK to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 1pm today, with the game being broadcast nationally on CBS.

The 7-5 Cowboys have taken losses from Oakland, Wichita State, Xavier, Houston, and Kansas, and have really struggled this year against mediocre competition, giving up 93 to Cleveland State at home in a win and beating Oral Roberts by one point.

They're 145th in the nation in PPG at 73.9, and 148th in allowed PPG at 67.1. They're ranked 54th overall in KenPom, making them the second-lowest rated team in the conference outside of Kansas State.

The consistency across the league is remarkable – the fact that the lowest team is ranked 70th (KSU) shows how good the Big 12 is overall. They're predicting as many as seven or eight teams to make the tournament; unfortunately, Oklahoma State is the odd-man out because of the ruling against them from the NCAA.

Oklahoma State's postseason ban became a subject of much controversy, as the assistant coach who caused the ban, Lamont Evans, hasn't been in the program since 2016-2017. To penalize a bunch of players and coaches who had nothing to do with this is completely unfair in my eyes, but the NCAA seems to like doling out unfair punishments sometimes while not punishing other programs for worse infractions.

The Cowboys' biggest issues stem from their lack of three-point shooting – they rank 344th out of 358 teams in three-point shooting percentage at a paltry 28.1%, and they're 338th in three-pointers made per game at 5.2. Texas only gives up 30.6% from beyond the arc, good for 77th in the nation, meaning the Texas defense should be able to stifle this offense from deep.

Here's Oklahoma State's starting lineup.

Here's Texas' likely starting lineup.

Here's what I'm looking for out of today:

• Let the guards play their game.

The guard play has been the reason Texas has been successful in their two conference games so far. Carr, averaging 19.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG in their last two games, has really emerged as a bucket-getter, and hopefully for Texas, the guy that can score late in games. Andrew Jones was out last game with COVID, so it will be good to get him back. Ramey has been excellent as well in conference play, so in order to keep the good vibes going, the three guards need to stay hot.

• Continue the trend of OSU's three-point struggles and Texas' prowess defending the three-point line.

Like I said before, Oklahoma State is abysmal from deep, and Texas does a great job defending the three. Avery Anderson is OSU's best three-point shooter, averaging 33.3% for the year. They're going to need to keep him from getting open looks from deep, as he's their best scorer and their biggest threat to get hot from outside. If Texas just plays the defense they usually do, they should win this game.

• Stay composed in a crazy environment.

This is going to be one of the hardest places to play this season for Texas, as the OSU fans have always been really rowdy, especially when the Longhorns come to town. They've played in crazy environments, like Gonzaga and Seton Hall, and to an extent, Kansas State (though their game with the Wildcats was a bit overshadowed by KSU's bowl game that same night). It's going to be loud, but the Longhorns have so much experience on their roster that they should be able to handle some noise.

• Limit the offensive rebounding by OSU.

Oklahoma State is 44th in the nation in offensive rebounding at 12.3 per game. Moussa Cisse leads the team, averaging 2.1 per game, and they have five others averaging from 1.1 to 1.6 per game. It's going to be important to handle the boards and not allow put-backs and second-chance points.