Difference Between Oklahoma State and Oregon Could be Exaggerated

Oklahoma State is a massive underdog against Oregon this weekend, but it could soon prove it’s incredibly underrated.

The Cowboys are coming off a three-win season and haven’t won a conference game since 2023. However, they made a myriad of changes in the offseason to ensure that there would be no repeat of the 3-9 campaign of a year ago.

With new coordinators headlining an almost entirely new coaching staff and one of the nation’s largest transfer portal classes, the Cowboys began this season with a 27-7 win over UT Martin. Although the offense wasn’t always the most impressive, the Cowboys’ defense held strong and allowed the Skyhawks’ only touchdown on a trick play.

Of course, the Cowboys are now preparing for a much tougher matchup in Week 2. Oregon spent most of last season as the No. 1 team in the country and entered the College Football Playoff undefeated.

Now ranked No. 6 ahead of Saturday’s matchup, ESPN Bet has the Ducks as a 29.5-point favorite over OSU. Expecting Oregon to win and perhaps win big is understandable, but the expectation shouldn’t be for OSU to lose by 30.

Even last season, when disaster lurked around every corner for the Cowboys, Mike Gundy’s team had only one 30-point loss, coming in a 52-0 defeat at Colorado in the season finale. With that in mind, it would be wild for OSU to come out in Week 2 and play that poorly.

Sure, the Cowboys will have a freshman quarterback making his first collegiate start, and Oregon certainly is more talented on paper. However, the Cowboys might have a chance to show that this season is far different from 2024, even if OSU’s talent level has taken a step back.

As evidenced by last season’s failures, having more talent on paper doesn’t always equal success. The Cowboys have a handful of players from 2024 who will be playing in the NFL for years to come, but that didn’t seem to matter on most Saturdays last fall.

There might not be some incredibly compelling argument to pick OSU to win outright in Eugene on Saturday, but to say the average result would be OSU losing by four touchdowns could soon show how underrated the Cowboys were coming into this season.