Gonzaga entered last year's tournament as #1 in the polls and with a #1 seed but were knocked out in the second round by a vastly underrated Wichita State team that made it to the Final Four and are a #1 seed this season. This is a very dangerous OKL ST team as Smart is very talented and he is looking to put a rough year behind him and focus on a deep run in the tournament. Smart and OKL ST has a ton to prove here and I believe they can go deep.
Oklahoma State is a lot better than their record indicates. They also bring a balanced attack with 4 players averaging 13 ppg or more. They are 21-12 but have the talent of a top-10 team and started to play like it when star Marcus Smart returned from a 3 game suspension that capped off a 7 game losing streak. Six of those seven losses were to NCAA Tournament teams with 3 of them by 3 points or less or in overtime and the Cowboys won 5 of 7 games after Smart's return to the lineup with both losses coming in overtime to good teams Iowa State and Kansas (they also beat Kansas 72-65). Oklahoma State is very athletic and should contain the Gonz shooters as this isn't your usual Gonzaga teams from the past as they also played in a weak conference. OKL ST is much better from top to bottom.