The Oklahoma State Cowboys were biting their nails on Selection Sunday. In the end, they earned a No. 9 seed and a matchup with No. 8 seeded Oregon in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Cowboys are obviously limping into the NCAA Tournament, having lost six of their final seven games. But, the group still clings to six quality wins over tournament teams, such as Kansas, Baylor and Texas.
Oregon will have to deal with a multi-faceted offense and a solid defense. While the Ducks are certainly the hotter team heading into the matchup, Oklahoma State has the roster to exploit multiple weaknesses in Oregon’s makeup.

Led by senior forward Le’Bryan Nash (17.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and junior sharpshooter Phil Forte (15.1 ppg), Oklahoma State has legitimate scoring threats from multiple areas on the court.
Nash is No. 10 in the nation in percentage of possession and is No. 2 in the statistic amongst tournament teams, making him the complete centerpiece for the offense. Colorado’s Askia Booker and Cal’s Tyrone Wallace are the only players in the Pac-12 with comparable participation rates.
At 6-7, Nash is typically put at the power forward position, but has the ability to redefine his playing style as he spent 35 percent of his time on the court this season at small-forward and five percent at shooting guard. Nash can handle the ball in the half court, make plays in transition, score from the block and hit jump shots.
However, Nash’s best offensive metric is fouls drawn per 40 minutes as he ranks No. 25 nationally at 6.8 fouls drawn per game, so expect him to spend most of his time slashing towards the basket as opposed to pacing around the perimeter.
The Ducks will have to devote plenty of attention to Nash, so expect Jordan Bell, Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook to each get their chance guarding him.
Forte, a prototypical jump-shot specialist, offers Oklahoma State the inside-out combination alongside Nash. With a solid 52.5 expected field goal percentage and a 38.2 percent clip from three point range, Nash is one of the better outside shooters Oregon has faced this season.
The junior guard is one of those players with the potential to explode, but is hampered by some awful stat lines. During Oklahoma State’s late season skid, Forte shot 28 percent from the field.
Behind those two, Oklahoma State reduces to a collection of role players. Senior point guard Anthony Hickey (9.6 ppg, 3.5 apg) operates as the team’s distributor, while small-forward Jeff Newberry (6.9 ppg) and center Michael Cobbins (6.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) round out the Cowboys’ front-court.
The Cowboys’ profile is essentially the opposite of Oregon’s. Teams facing Oklahoma State pay a lot of attention to Nash, opening Forte up on the outside; teams facing Oregon pay a lot of attention to Joseph Young, opening things up for players like Elgin Cook and Dillon Brooks on the inside.
The most surprising factor when comparing the two offenses is Oklahoma State’s shockingly low rebounding rate, which ranks last in Big-12 at 27.1 percent. Obviously this has to do with Nash – the Cowboy’s only capable forward  – taking such a big chunk of the offense. Simply put: when Nash is shooting, Nash can’t rebound.

The match up canters in Oklahoma State’s favor on the defensive side. Although the Cowboys’ defense doesn’t stand out in the highly competitive Big-12, they’re just outside the nation’s top 50 in defensive efficiency.
Hickey is second in the Big-12 in steal percentage at 3.96 percent and averages 1.9 steals per game. Forte comes in right behind him with a 3.4 percent steal rate and an identical 1.9 steals per game average. Forte is also a very smart defender as he only commits 1.6 fouls per game on average.
Down low, 6-8 Michael Cobbins is very similar to Jordan Bell as the senior averages 1.9 blocks per game despite playing with a noticeable size disadvantage. With Nash chipping in 1.0 blocks per game, Oklahoma State ranks inside the top 20 nationally in both block percentage and steal percentage.
But again, Oklahoma State struggles to rebound. While the Cowboys hold their opponents below 45 percent shooting from inside the arc, they’re last in the Big-12 in defensive rebounding percentage as well.
So it’s a matchup between both team’s strengths. Oregon is a skilled offensive team that enjoys success from the perimeter, while Oklahoma State is a balanced team that tries to get the ball down low and get to the foul line.
The key statistic for this matchup should be rebounding, with added emphasis added to second chance points and offensive rebounds. Oregon is far from a good rebounding team, but the statistics say Oklahoma State is even worse in that department. The team that wins that battle will likely win the game.
In a vacuum, Oklahoma State should be the favorite in this game. The Cowboys have almost a complete year’s worth of experience over the Ducks on average and have a player capable of scoring against Oregon’s undersized forwards.
But if you take Oklahoma State’s late season collapse into account, Oregon’s recent success looks that much more favorable.
This might be the best second round matchup in the entire field of 64 and will likely become a competition between the stars Nash and Young down to the bitter end.
Follow Josh Schlichter on Twitter @joshschlichter

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NCAA Tournament Four Factors: No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State