Cowboys Prepped for Big 12 Opening Weekend in Utah

Oklahoma State Cowboys
(13-4, 0-0 Big 12) | Head Coach: Dustin Taylor (Fifth Season)
vs.
Utah Utes | 8 p.m. CT
(4-9, 0-0 Big 12) | Head Coach: Roeland Brateanu (12th Season)
&
BYU Cougars | 4:30 p.m. CT
(12-2, 0-0 Big 12) | Head Coach: Zack Warren (Fourth Season)

Match 18 | Utah | March 12, 2026
Venue: Eccles Tennis Center
Stream: https://okla.st/WatchvsUtah
Stats: https://okla.st/StatsvsUtah

Match 19 | BYU | March 14, 2026
Venue: BYU Tennis Courts
Stream: https://okla.st/WatchvsBYU
Stats: https://okla.st/StatsvsBYU

Social Media: @CowboyTennis

The Basics
The Oklahoma State men's tennis team opens the 2026 Big 12 season with a road trip to Utah to take on Utah and BYU on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, respectively. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ as a part of the Big 12 Crosscourt stream. The Cowboys match against the Utes will take place at the Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, at 8 p.m. CT. Saturday's contest with the Cougars will begin at 4:30 p.m. CT at the BYU Tennis Courts. Oklahoma State is coming off an impressive win over Penn on Tuesday evening; a win that improved its record to 11-0 at the Greenwood Tennis Center, the best start in the history of the GTC.

Gokpinar Magic
Freshmen Haydar Gokpinar has shined to start his Cowboy career. Gokpinar is 13-1 and sealed the match against Arkansas with a comeback win over Eric Padgham, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-1. The Turkish native started his career with 10 straight wins, the most by a Cowboy to start his career since Lucas Gerch in 2014. Gokpinar leads OSU with his 13 wins and has only dropped three total sets this season, primarily anchoring the lineup on court six.

Oklahoma's Own
Oklahoma native Ian Bracks has made a name for himself to start his sophomore season. Heading into conference play, Bracks has a 12-2 record and has netted a perfect 6-0 record from the four spots in the lineup. Bracks has been diverse in his work, picking up wins on every court except six and only having his two losses on court three.

In The Rankings
The Oklahoma State men's tennis team ranked 35^th in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I rankings. The Pokes sit as the sixth-highest ranked team in the stacked Big 12, behind TCU (5), Baylor (8), UCF (10), Arizona (17) and Arizona State (19). No Cowboys or Cowboy pairings are featured in the rankings as of March 3.

Series History
Oklahoma State and Utah will matchup for the sixth time in their histories, with OSU holding a perfect 5-0 record over the Utes. The most recent matchup came in the ITA Indoor Kickoff Weekend in Austin, Texas, where OSU swept the Utes, 4-0. This will be the first time the two face off as Big 12 opponents.

Oklahoma State will take on BYU for the sixth time overall, but it will be the fourth time the Cowboys and Cougars battle in just two years, with OSU taking each matchup. The regular season contest in Stillwater last season came down to the wire, with the Cowboys winning, 4-3. Just a couple weeks later, the two met again in Waco, Texas, for the Big 12 Championship first round where OSU took another thriller over BYU, 4-3. Overall, OSU holds a 4-1 advantage over the Cougars all-time, with BYU's only win coming in 1984.

Streaks & Trends
·      OSU is 11-0 at the Greenwood Tennis Center
·      OSU has never lost to Utah
·      OSU hasn't lost to BYU this century
·      Haydar Gokpinar is 13-1 in singles this season
·      Ian Bracks has wins on every court except six
·      Ian Bracks is 6-0 on court four
·      OSU currently has 84 total team points through 17 matches
·      The 84 team points are the most through 17 matches since 1997 (86)
·      Most team points in the Dustin Taylor era

A Pair of Oklahoma State Wins Would…

Improve its record to 15-4
Improve its Big 12 record to 2-0
Improve its record over Utah to 6-0
Give it its first ever Big 12 win over the Utes
Improve its record to 5-1 against BYU
Give it its fourth win over BYU since 2024

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ian Bracks

Haydar Gokpinar

Oklahoma State University Athletics