Can Oklahoma State Compete for Big 12 Championship in 2025?
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Oklahoma State had a rough season in 2024 but it might have an incredible bounce back next season.
The Cowboys have only missed a bowl game twice under Mike Gundy, with last season marking the first such case for OSU in nearly two decades. While Gundy has done virtually everything at his alma mater to build OSU into one of the best teams in the nation, down years are bound to happen for a program that doesn’t have a history as rich as others around it.
Still, the Cowboys ending 2024 without a win in conference play was rather shocking after the team entered as a Big 12 favorite and seen as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. OSU will enter 2025 with none of those expectations, and for some, there isn’t even an expectation for OSU to even make it back to a bowl game. In true Gundy and Cowboy fashion, that could be the best position for the program going into next year.
Without the expectations to compete for a Big 12 title or make it to the playoff, OSU can play freely and work solely on the week-to-week without needing to fret about the big picture. OSU is no stranger to competing for a Big 12 title in years like that.
Just a couple of years ago in 2023, OSU was seen as a team that would struggle to find success in the Big 12 and looked on track for one of the worst seasons under Gundy after consecutive losses to South Alabama and Iowa State. Instead, OSU went 9-3 to make the Big 12 Championship for the second time in three years.
While the Cowboys’ 2021 team is considered one of the best in school history, even it had modest expectations.
With so many new players coming in, it’s possible OSU could have found some diamonds in the rough and the team could gel perfectly. There are no guarantees in this era of college football, but with an overhauled coaching staff as well, OSU has done everything it can to ensure a 3-9 season was a fluke. And with such drastic changes, it might not be too far-fetched to see the Cowboys have a polar opposite season in 2025 and make it to Arlington again.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.