Oklahoma State Facing Uphill Battle in Big 12 Moving Forward

Oklahoma State has been the Big 12’s worst team for the past two seasons, and turning things around won’t be easy.

Over the past couple of years, OSU has been winless against Big 12 competition. With only two FBS wins since the start of last season, this is easily the worst two-year stretch in this era of OSU football.

Historically, the Cowboys are no strangers to being bottom feeders, but that all changed when Mike Gundy took over as head coach, leading OSU to 18 straight winning seasons from 2006-23. Of course, all of that progress was halted seemingly in an instant last season.

After entering the 2024 season in the top 25 and being a preseason Big 12 favorite and College Football Playoff contender, the Cowboys followed a 3-0 start by losing nine straight. Since that 3-0 start, OSU’s only win has been an uninspiring 27-7 win against FCS squad UT Martin to open this season.

Considering how OSU has performed this season, it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint rock bottom, and it’s certainly possible the Cowboys haven’t reached it yet. While the portal window from Mike Gundy’s firing is closed, that won’t stop players from sitting out with the intention of entering this offseason.

Of course, OSU will be making its next hire with the understanding that the next coach will need to turn around a program that has gone from a perennial Big 12 contender to the worst power conference team in college football. That transformation won’t be easy, and it’s only getting more difficult.

While OSU could make the hire it believes is the best, it might also be at the mercy of its top donors, who will be critical to helping the Cowboys build a roster in this era. With the Big 12 expanding from 10 to 16 teams over the course of the past few years, breaking through in the conference is as difficult as ever.

While OSU got a little tiebreaker luck in the 14-team race in 2023, a 16-team marathon to the title game only complicates things for the Cowboys if they get in a position to compete for a playoff spot. At this rate, if OSU is even somewhat concerned about tiebreakers at this point in a season in the near future, it would be a tremendous success.

The Cowboys are in a dark spot in the Big 12 right now, and this offseason will go a long way in deciding how long that will be the case.