The Oklahoma State Cowboys find themselves in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season under Travis Ford and this year the Pokes are a seed higher then last season. A year agao OSU earned an eight seed and won its first round game against Tennessee, this season the Pokes earned a seven seed and will play Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets are out off the ACC and advanced to the conference championship against Duke where they lost, although they defeated Duke earlier in the season. The Yellow Jackets are a three headed monster inside with a very talented, athletic guard on the perimeter. Tech also has three different players who average in double figures the Cowboys will have to contend with.

Gani Lawal is one of the Yellow Jacket big man and leads the team in scoring averaging 13.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He is long and athletic and will be a tough cover for the undersized Cowboy front line. Freshman Derrick Favors is the other starter on the front line and is a young and very talented freshman. He averages 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, great numbers for a freshman. The third double digit scorer is the very athletic guard Iman Shumpert, who win he shoots it well from the outside, is a nearly impossible cover. Shumpert is very long and athletic and can get to the hole and create his own shot, but has a tendency to take bad shots and play out of control.

The final piece to the Yellow Jacket Puzzle offense is sixth man Zack Peacock. The big man is the final part of the three man rotation inside, but can also shoot the ball from the perimeter as well. Peacock averages 8.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game off the bench. Tech finished the season 22-12, but before its run to the conference title game lost five of its final seven games.

For the Cowboys its no secret, OSU must get great scoring from James Anderson and solid contributions from Keiton Page and Obi Muonelo. Anderson struggled in the Big 12 tournament, but is conference player of the year and averaged 22.6 points per game on the season.

The Cowboys will need scoring from Page and Muonelo to make its way to round two. Page averaged 10.7 points per game on the season, but came on strong late in the season with a few 20 point plus outbursts. Obi Muonelo is the second leading scorer for the Cowboys and has been the go to guy when the Pokes need a basket. He has the ability to create off the dribble and can knock down open threes. Also, Muonelo often plays the four position on the floor so can create a mismatch.

OSU and Georgia Tech tip off tonight from Milwaukee at 6:15 p.m. and the winner will most likely take on second seeded Ohio State on Sunday.