STILLWATER, OKLA. ? Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton still was seething Monday, a day after learning that two Big 12 Conference titles and only one loss in the past two months weren’t enough to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, the final top seed went to Saint Joseph’s, which won its first 27 games before losing by 20 points to Xavier in the first round Atlantic 10 tournament.

The effect of the Hawks’ blowout loss and weak conference schedule was one of the big questions heading into Selection Sunday, and Oklahoma State was considered one of the teams that could have replaced them as a No. 1 seed.

But the selection committee acknowledged that the Cowboys’ impressive 65-49 victory over Texas in the Big 12 tournament final Sunday afternoon came too late to make a difference in the seeding.

The Cowboys (27-3) instead will open the tournament as a No. 2 seed against Eastern Washington (17-12), the Big Sky conference champion, which is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Sutton had programming advice for network television executives.

“That (NCAA Tournament selection) show is so popular,” he said. “They ought to have that show on at primetime. When I see some of those folks at CBS, that’s what I’m going to tell them.”

Sutton, evidently, isn’t that big a fan of “60 Minutes” or tournament selection committee chairman Bob Bowlsby’s statement that the Big 12 title game wasn’t a factor because it tipped off too late.

That admission, more than anything, irritated Sutton.

“If that’s true … they’re going to have to move that tournament back a day,” Sutton said, “because that will happen again and that isn’t fair.”

Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said the league would discuss a schedule change — it’s only the third time in the conference’s eight-year history that one of its teams hasn’t been a No. 1 seed.

The league’s contract with ESPN runs for four more years. But any adjustment likely would cost the Big 12 since the current setup provides a highly rated lead-in to the announcement of the NCAA field.

Regardless, OSU had a legitimate claim to a No. 1 seed.

The Cowboys won 17 of their final 18 games, with the only loss coming in double overtime at Missouri; their other two defeats came on the road against teams that made it into the tournament (BYU and Texas Tech); and four of the six teams ranked ahead of them recently lost.

Oklahoma State greeted news of its No. 2 seed with groans and frowns — putting a slight damper on its celebration of the Big 12 championship.

“It was a little disappointing,” forward Ivan McFarlin said of the snub. “I guess if we had played at 9 o’clock in the morning, it would have made a difference.”