Twenty-two games into Oklahoma State's season, it seemed the Cowboys were set for another troublesome year.
A season after it took a Big 12 tournament title for OSU to make an NCAA regional, the Cowboys are in no such position, in large part thanks to coach Josh Holliday's ability to redirect his team. As a result, Holliday is The Oklahoman's Big 12 Coach of the Year.
OSU followed an 11-10-1 start with a 16-4 run that included sweeps of TCU, Kansas State, Kansas and Oklahoma. A rough finish left OSU in second in the conference, a heavy improvement on a preseason projection of sixth.