TOURNEY WATCH: 3/16/2011

Oklahoma State started its NIT run with a resounding bang, posting a dominant 71-54 home win over Ivy league darling Harvard on Tuesday night.

Marshall Moses scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

That's certainly better than the performance the Cowboys delivered in Travis Ford's inaugural year, when they traveled to Carbondale, Ill., for a first-round match-up with the Southern Illinois Salukis and just got housed.

The Cowboys will advance to face the winner between Long Beach State and Washington State.

I hope it's the latter, so we can compare two opponents and see how they fare against each other.

Of course, the game would be in Pullman, which would suck for OSU's chances to advance because the Pokes are a terrible road team.

Witness their demolition at Gonzaga on New Year's Eve the last time they traveled to Washington, for instance.

In the thrilling CBI, James Madison was ejected unceremoniously by Davidson, 85-65. The Dukes finished the season 21-12.

Associated Press Ranking = 21

ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 24

Overall Record = 22-10

Big 12 Record = 10-6

Top 50 Record = 3-6

Big 12 Seed = 4

NCAA Seed = 5

RPI = 23

SOS = 11

Region (Site) = Southeast (Tucson)

Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = Kansas, Texas

Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = James Madison, Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, Washington State, Baylor, Nebraska (2), Missouri

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

• James Madison (21-12, 10-8 CAA) | RPI = 88: Loss at Davidson (65-85 in the CBI)
  
• No. 1* seed Virginia Tech (21-11, 9-7 ACC) | RPI = 62
  
• Presbyterian (13-18, 7-11 Big South) | RPI = 204
  
• No. 11 seed Gonzaga (23-9, 11-3 WCC) | RPI = 56
  
• No. 1 seed Duke (30-4, 13-3 ACC) | RPI = 4
  
• No. 8* seed Texas Southern (19-12, 16-2 SWAC) | RPI = 192
  
• Emporia State (16-14, 12-10 MIAA**)
  
• No. 2* seed Washington State (19-12, 9-9 Pac-10) | RPI = 82
  
• Alcorn State (4-24, 4-14 SWAC) | RPI = 337
  
• Loyola-Chicago (16-15, 7-11 Horizon League) | RPI = 197
  
• No. 2 seed Florida (26-7, 13-3 SEC) | RPI = 8
  
• No. 8 seed UNLV (24-8, 11-5 Mountain West) | RPI = 25
  
• UMKC (16-14, 9-9 Summit League) | RPI = 212
  
• North Florida (15-19, 10-10 Atlantic Sun) | RPI = 149
  
• Savannah State (12-18) | RPI = 252
  
• No. 3* seed Oklahoma State (20-13, 6-10 Big 12) | RPI = 61: Win over No. 6* seed Harvard (71-54 in the NIT)
  
• No. 1* seed Colorado (21-13, 8-8 Big 12) | RPI = 65
  
• Texas Tech (13-19, 5-11 Big 12) | RPI = 165
  
• No. 11 seed Missouri (23-10, 8-8 Big 12) | RPI = 37
  
• No. 7 seed Texas A&M (24-8, 10-6 Big 12) | RPI = 30
  
• Baylor (18-13, 7-9 Big 12) | RPI = 94
  
• No. 1 seed Kansas (32-2, 14-2 Big 12) | RPI = 1
  
• No. 5* seed Nebraska (19-12, 7-9 Big 12) | RPI = 89
  
• Iowa State (16-16, 3-13 Big 12) | RPI = 138
  
• Oklahoma (14-18, 5-11 Big 12) | RPI = 126
  
• No. 4 seed Texas (27-7, 13-3 Big 12) | RPI = 11
  

*NIT
**Division II