For the Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball team, the goal is simple— get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years. It's easier said than done of course.

The Cowboys have been stuck in neutral since former coach Mike Boynton Jr. and future NBA No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham authored that NCAA Tournament berth in 2021. The first two seasons under current head coach Steve Lutz have been good but the significant issue has been winning Big 12 games.

In Lutz’s mind, the biggest weakness is defense. He said at Big 12 media days that he feels he has all the offense he needs to contend for an NCAA Tournament berth. The question is whether this team plays better defensively?

So, how will we know if the defense is better? Three these three games in November should give us a sense whether the Cowboys are on their way to fixing that issue or not.

Texas A&M: Nov. 12

There's nothing like a matchup with an NCAA Tournament team to help test whether your defense is up to snuff or not. This is a rematch of last year’s game, though this year’s edition will be in College Station. The charm is that the Cowboys will get an opportunity to compare it against last year’s matchup, though much of the personnel has changed. Last year the Aggies won in Stillwater, 87-63. The Cowboys allowed more than 84 points per game last season.

The biggest name for the Aggies is one the Cowboys are familiar with — guard PJ Haggerty is with Texas A&M this season. He played at Kansas State last year and he was the fourth-leading scorer in the country at 23.4 points per game.

If Lutz wants to see how well his guards are playing man-to-man on a high-level scorer, this is the perfect game to find out.

Minnesota: Nov. 20

The Cowboys and the Golden Gophers have only played one another eight times in their histories, and their last matchup was in 2019, when Minnesota won 86-66 in a game played in Tulsa. In fact, this game will be played in Charleston, which will be the fourth different neutral site matchup in a row between the two teams, going back to the 2025-16 season.

The Cowboys will have to deal with guard Isaac Asuma, who averaged 10.3 points per game. Another guard, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, averaged 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.

The biggest issue, though, is head coach Niko Medved, who runs a system designed to score a lot of points, kind of like the same system that Lutz runs at OSU. The golden Gophers should be a test of the Cowboys’ overall team defense.

Virginia Tech: Nov. 22

The other game in Charleston is set against the Virginia Tech Hokies, a team that the Cowboys have never beaten in five tries. Their last matchup was in 2023 in Brooklyn.

The Hokies have one of the best players in the country in forward Amani Hansberry, who was named to the ACC's preseason second team earlier this month.

He returns after scoring 14.3 points per game and shooting nearly 50% from the floor. He also grabbed 7.4 rebounds. At 6-8, he profiles a lot like current Cowboys forward Jordan Burks. He's a player that can shoot from the mid-range and from distance, can rebound and can drop a double-double every night.

This gives the Cowboys an opportunity to see how they match up with a high-level forward.