3 Reasons Why Oklahoma State Won't Win Big 12 in 2025

The Cowboys have the odds stacked against them.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy walks on the sideline during a college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma State is looking to bounce back in 2025, but it might not be ready to compete for a Big 12 title.

Last season, OSU went 3-9 and failed to win a single Big 12 game. After making some big moves in the offseason, there is a new energy surrounding the program.

In the new-look Big 12, it appears that anything is possible after Arizona State went from the last-place team in the preseason to winning the conference in 2024. However, the Cowboys are probably unlikely to make that type of jump in 2025.

3 reasons Oklahoma State won’t win the Big 12:

Too much change

Change is the name of the game in college sports, but the Cowboys might have taken that idea a bit too far this offseason. Sure, OSU needed to switch things up after a 3-9 season, and all of its moves make sense.

However, with an abundance of changes to the coaching staff and tons of newcomers joining the team through the transfer portal, OSU might struggle to find its identity until later in the season. That could easily lead to the Cowboys dropping some winnable games in the early portion of the conference schedule simply because they don’t have the chemistry yet.

Quarterback situation

OSU will likely enter its first game without any idea of who will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season. While Mike Gundy and company will likely have named a full-time starter by the start of Big 12 play, that doesn’t mean the starter will remain unchanged all season.

Especially considering OSU has a couple of freshmen who have never thrown a pass in a college game, there could be some massive ups and downs for both quarterbacks throughout the season. Sure, one of Zane Flores or Hauss Hejny will likely have emerged as the right guy by the time OSU hits November, but the journey to that point could be a rocky one that costs OSU some games it desperately needs to be in the Big 12 title race.

Not enough talent

OSU has made some big additions this offseason. Particularly using the transfer portal to their advantage, the Cowboys have added several highly touted players who could make an instant impact.

However, there is also a chance that all of the talent OSU has brought in simply won’t be good enough. With a mixture of players looking to take the leap to the Big 12 level and others hoping for a larger opportunity after they couldn’t make it work at bigger schools, the Cowboys are absolutely taking some risks on their additions.

Add in the abundance of talent that departed in the offseason, and the Cowboys likely won’t have the players they need to truly ascend to the top of the Big 12 title picture.

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