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Spotlight on... Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford

By Mizzou Hoops Updated
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OK, I am man enough to admit that I might be the only one who thinks Oklahoma St. Cowboys head coach Travis Ford should be on the hot seat. And maybe ‘hot seat' is a little too dramatic, but I think Ford might have a spot on a ‘luke warm seat.'

Let's take a quick look at some statistics.

In three seasons in Stillwater, Ford has:

  • Compiled a 24-24 conference record
  • Led the Cowboys to Big 12 conference tournament seedings of 7th, 7th and 9th
  • Had the Big 12 POY in James Anderson in 2010 and finished 9-7 in conference

To his credit, Ford has guided the Pokes to three 20+ win seasons and three postseason tournament appearances, but Oklahoma State has a storied basketball tradition and deserves more.

This year, Ok State will welcome in uber freshman LeBryan Nash. Nash, who is arguably the highest profiled recruit to come to the school, will bring an immense amount of talent, but also an immense amount of expectations. And with those expectations, Ford's seat becomes even hotter.

If the Cowboys cannot finish higher than middle of the pack (come back on Friday to see our predictions), then fans and administrators should start to wonder if Ford is the right man for the job.

Now I know I'm playing the ‘what if' game, but if Ford can't get a either team with a Big 12 POY or a team with a heralded freshman to a first round conference tourney bye, then... what?

I like Ford and don't mean to hate, but I look at the teams he's had at Ok State and feel they've underachieved. Obviously James Anderson was great, and Marshall Moses improved greatly in his four years as has Keiton Page. But the teams haven't performed up to snuff.

This year might be Ford's most challenging, simply because of the amount of talent on the team. Between Nash, Page, Markel Brown and Jean-Paul Olukemi, the Pokes are stacked - mostly on the outside, but stacked none-the-less - which will lead to anticipation of a deep run in conference. If Ford can't lead the squad to meet expectations, then the administration might want to start looking elsewhere.

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