Even without Buddy next year. Cousins will be an experienced leader poised to take over that role and we will have 2 more guards coming in. I'm betting at least one makes some impact in depth at least if not both. I don't know a ton about either of them right now, just because I'm not follower of recruiting like that, but the fact is we lack depth at the guard spot so I would expect either one or both to play some early. Also we'll have a much deeper team inside even with Thomas leaving. We should all expect Lattin to get better. But also we have Buford and McNease who are probably going to be ready to make some impact after having redshirt years, practicing with a team that has a lot of NCAA experience now. We'll have a really quality team next year poised to be a favorite in the Big 12 next year with or without Buddy. Buddy puts us as being a team that will be a top 5 team in the country going into next year.
A loss against Michigan State gives this team a lot of motivation no matter what.