What is Oklahoma State's Best-Case Scenario for 2025?

Oklahoma State is hoping for a big bounce-back season in 2025, but it could be bigger than anyone expects.

The Cowboys have been one of the most interesting teams in the Big 12 over the past few years. In just the past four seasons, OSU has made two conference title games, narrowly finished with a winning record and gone winless in conference play.

To say that the Cowboys have been inconsistent would be an understatement. Of course, OSU would love for that trend of inconsistency to extend at least one more season and do the polar opposite of what it did in 2024.

Following their three-win campaign, the Cowboys opted to make some significant changes. After Mike Gundy narrowly avoided the end of his two-decade-long tenure as head coach, OSU overhauled its coaching staff and hit the transfer portal harder than ever before.

With a team and coaching staff that is legitimately unrecognizable from this time last year, it’s difficult to predict what might come in Stillwater. Considering there are so many questions to be answered, it feels difficult to even predict what direction the program is heading in.

What if everything goes right?

With so many questions left to be answered, that also means there could be some perfect answers in store for OSU in 2025. It’s tricky to even plot out the best-case scenario for a team that just won three games, but it might be easiest to assume every toss-up works out in the Cowboys’ favor for this exercise.

Frankly, OSU simply can’t win the national title this season. However, if every little thing works out in OSU’s favor, there’s no reason the Cowboys couldn’t make their first playoff appearance.

All of that magic would need to start in Week 2. With a matchup at Oregon, the Cowboys will have to play their best to stay in it. However, the Ducks will be integrating a new quarterback and have lost plenty of high-level talent from last season’s squad. Considering the Ducks were in a similar spot to begin last season and nearly lost to Idaho and Boise State at home, OSU’s hopes of winning might not be too far-fetched.

Add in OSU’s relatively favorable conference schedule, and a 10-win season could be on the horizon. To make the Big 12 Championship, OSU likely needs at least seven conference wins, but an 8-1 record in conference games would be a safer bet.

With how chaotic the Big 12 can be, OSU’s ability to pull a couple of upsets against the few contenders on the schedule could be just enough to sneak the Cowboys into the conference title and, ultimately, the College Football Playoff discussion.

In conclusion, OSU won’t be a true national contender regardless of how high it climbs next season, but with an unpredictable Big 12 and a hungry team in Stillwater, there’s a path to Boone Pickens Stadium hosting a playoff game this fall.