Nonconference Bye Week Could Have Mixed Results for Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State has an interesting schedule quirk, and it could impact the Cowboys in various ways.

Over the past few months, OSU has made some significant changes. While Mike Gundy is still running the show in Stillwater, most of the faces around him will be much different from 2024.

After so many moves in the offseason, the Cowboys are simply ready to kick off the 2025 season next month. With a season-opening matchup against UT Martin on August 28, football season is just around the corner.

Following the Thursday night game to begin the year, the Cowboys will head to Eugene to face Oregon in what could be their most difficult matchup of the season. After getting those two games out of the way, OSU won’t play again for 13 days.

With an odd scheduling quirk, the Cowboys’ third nonconference game will feature a bye week in the week leading up. So, Week 3 won’t feature any action before the Cowboys take on Tulsa in a Friday night game in Stillwater in Week 4.

Having a bye week in the nonconference at least means a couple of things for the Cowboys. Firstly, it means that the Pokes will be one of the final Big 12 teams to play a conference game, with their first Big 12 action set for Week 5 against Baylor.

Perhaps more importantly, having a bye week during nonconference play gives the Cowboys only one bye week during the Big 12 slate. Although it might not seem like a big problem, having that extra bye week can be critical in the midst of a tough conference schedule.

OSU’s only bye week during Big 12 play will be after its ninth game, in between matchups against Kansas and Kansas State. While having a November reset week is incredibly valuable for an OSU team trying to get back to a bowl game, having another one in October, like the Cowboys did last season, could have been even better.

In any case, OSU will need to use its bye weeks to its advantage as it tries to turn things around next season.