Cowboys are back on the right track

After an 0-6 start to the Big 12 portion of their schedule, the Cowboys’ comeback is similar to the Len Bias-led Maryland team during the 1985-86 season.

The soaring Oklahoma State Cowboys have won nine of 10 games. After an 0-6 start to Big 12 play, OSU is 8-7 in the league and virtually assured of an upperdivision finish, not to mention a quality seed in the NCAA Tournament. Quite a turnaround. And quite historic.

ESPN found only one other major-conference basketball team that started a season 0-6 in conference but rallied to make the NCAA Tournament.

And you’ll know quite a bit about that team.

The Maryland Terrapins, 1985-86. Led by Len Bias.

Those Terrapins of 31 seasons ago were coached by the legendary Lefty Driesell. Expectations were high for Maryland.

Bias was a star. He was a two-time ACC Player of the Year. Bias had averaged 15.3 points a game as a sophomore, 18.9 as a junior and 23.2 as a senior. All without the 3-point shot. Bias, a 6-foot-8 wing, shot 53.6 percent from the field for his college career.

That Maryland team struggled some early, losing 78-66 at Ohio State and then 64-63 at home to Nevada-Las Vegas.

ACC play opened on Jan. 4, and suddenly the Terrapins couldn’t win. Six straight losses.

Now, some of those defeats were understandable. Two were to Duke, when the Blue Devils were ranked third and second, respectively. Maryland lost 81-75 at home to Duke to start the streak, then 80-68 on the road for loss No. 6 in a row.

In between, the Terrapins lost 68-67 at fifthranked Georgia Tech. That was Mark Price’s senior season with the Yellow Jackets. Maryland also lost at home to No. 1-ranked North Carolina 71-67. The ACC was a bear in those days.

Discouraged, Maryland’s fourth straight loss was 70-49 at Virginia, followed by a 67-55 home defeat to North Carolina State.

So on Jan. 28, 1986, Len Bias’ final Maryland team was 0-6 in the ACC. The Terrapins beat Wake Forest that day, but Maryland followed that with two more losses, both out of conference, to Notre Dame and Villanova.

On Feb. 8, Maryland started winning, going 6-2 down the stretch to finish 6-8 in the ACC.

Among the Terrapins’ victims? No. 1-ranked Carolina; Maryland won 77-72 in Chapel Hill.

Maryland got to the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, played fourth-ranked Carolina in the quarterfinals and won again, 85-75. A 64-62 loss to Georgia Tech in the semifinals sent the Terrapins home to wait for the NCAA selections.

Maryland was 16-13. But the NCAA’s 64-team bracket was in its second year, and the committee had begun recognizing strength of schedule.

Maryland was made a No. 5 seed in the West Regional. The Terrapins beat Pepperdine 69-64 in the first round, then lost to fourth-seeded UNLV 70-64 in the second round.

Len Bias’ college career was over. Three months later, Bias would be picked second overall in the NBA Draft, by the Celtics.

That was a heck of a draft for the ACC. Carolina’s Brad Daugherty went No. 1 overall, to Cleveland. Bias went second. North Carolina State’s Chris Washburn went third, to Golden State.

Duke’s Johnny Dawkins went 10th, to the Spurs. Georgia Tech’s John Salley went 11th, to Detroit. Duke’s Mark Alarie went 18th to Denver.

And at No. 25, Dallas took Georgia Tech’s Price, and soon traded him to Cleveland. Price turned out to be the best ACC player in that draft, an All-Pro point guard.

Of course, we don’t know how Bias would have turned out. Two days after the draft, Bias died of a cocaine overdose.

The fallout was large. Two Maryland teammates, Terry Long and David Gregg, were indicted on drug charges, though all charges eventually were dropped in exchange for testimony against Bias’ friend Brian Tribble, who eventually pleaded guilty to drug dealing.

The NCAA began looking into Maryland’s affairs. Athletic director Dick Dull resigned in October 1986. Three weeks later, Driesell did the same. Len Bias’ last Maryland game was Lefty Driesell’s last game.

Bias today is considered one of the legends of the game. A superstar who could have been. His death is cited by many as derailing the Celtics’ fortunes. They had drafted Bias thinking he could play with the great Larry Bird/Kevin McHale/Robert Parish teams of the 1980s, then take over as the face of the franchise himself. But between 1992 and 2002, Boston did not win a playoff series.

That 1986 draft is quite memorable. Another drug-ravaged player, Michigan’s Roy Tarpley, went seventh to the Mavericks. Virginia Tech’s Dell Curry, went 15th to the Jazz. Soviet star Arvydas Sabonis went 24th to Portland. Southeastern State’s Dennis Rodman went 27th to Detroit. N.C. State’s Nate McMillan, now the coach of the Pacers, went 30th to Seattle. Iowa State’s Jeff Hornacek, now the coach of the Knickerbockers, went 46th to Phoenix and became an excellent NBA player. Croatian Drazen Petrovic, who would die a few years later in a car crash, went 60th to Portland.

But the star of that draft was Bias. And two days later he was dead.

Bias’ final basketball team achieved a remarkable feat. Lost its first six conference games and pulled itself together to have a memorable season. Now OSU is doing the same.