Weiberg has Checked with Oregon State and has Future Schedules in Predominant Regional Set-Up
STILLWATER -- Prior to the past few seasons, I had been an active critic of Oklahoma State football scheduling. When the Cowboys made a very rare and unadvised trip to Troy in 2007 and then an almost unheard of Power Five season opener at Central Michigan, I was adamant that these were road games Power Five schools wouldn't make. Missouri taught everybody a lesson when they went to Troy with one of their best teams and got beat. Power Fives that didn't learn the lesson of the trap of playing Troy there did so with the Cowboys loss. Kansas is the only Power Five to go to Central Michigan since the Cowboys did in 2015. Both won, but Oklahoma State averages over 50,000 for home games now. Kelly-Shorts Stadium at CMU seats 30,255.
Since arriving in 2017 as the new deputy athletic director and likely future leader of Oklahoma State athletics, Chad Weiberg has been had a strong positive influence in so many areas, but certainly in the critical area of football scheduling. If you don't think the Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma administrations don't schedule for success both on the field and in the bank account then you don't pay attention.
Weiberg has proven to be very adept at football scheduling.
Oklahoma State University athletics
Weiberg has done that, intelligently for head coach Mike Gundy and his program and for Oklahoma State fans. He has mixed in some attractive Power Five match-ups with plenty of opportune tune-ups for Gundy's teams to prepare for Big 12 Conference play.
Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown college football into uncertainty for this upcoming season. Weiberg admitted that we learn more everyday and that now signs, including the announcement in more detail of how Oklahoma State will hold on campus classes in the fall and re-open the campus starting June 1, point toward a football season this fall.
One of the games most in doubt on the surface would be the Thursday, Sept. 3 opener hosting Oregon State. Weiberg told me he has reached out and that Oregon State is tied on for the long trip and returning the game Oklahoma State made going to Corvallis late last August.
"I reached out to Oregon State about a few weeks ago to see what they were thinking at that point," Weiberg started. "Remember a few weeks ago things were different as we were in the shut down mode versus the opening mode. Just wanted to see what they were thinking and they were very much planning to be here with us to open the football season. I appreciated that and was glad to hear it because I think that is a great opportunity. Like we have said, if we have a football season then that will be one of the first college football games anywhere in the country and we will help kickoff the season."
Weiberg is not a soothsayer, but he does have a schedule this fall that favors Oklahoma State in conditions that currently exist. All non conference games are at home making for seven home games. Weiberg has nothing to do with the conference schedule, but the longest trips (at West Virginia, at Iowa State, at Texas Tech, and at Texas) aren't on it. All those games are at home and Oklahoma State leaves the state just four times with a game at Oklahoma and then trips to TCU and Baylor in Texas and to Kansas and Kansas State to the north.
"We were fortunate that it fell that way for us this year," Weiberg analyzed. "We have all of our non conference games at home and all of our conference games are a reasonable distance from Stillwater. It worked out well for us in that regard."
Weiberg is ahead of the curve with future scheduling as he has vastly regionalized the Cowboys future schedules. There are a few long trips but many home games and close to home non conference road games. He did negotiate a deal with more home games for Tulsa, but those become somewhat home away from home games for the Cowboys with the heavy orange fan base in Tulsa. The home and home twice with Arkansas is a fantastic move.
"I think that is true that this (pandemic) has schools looking more and more regionally to schedule future opponents in football and all sports," Weiberg stated. "I feel really good that we had started down that path before any of this started. I feel like we are in a good position there and we will continue to do that as much as possible."
Oklahoma State Future Non Conference Opponents
2021 - Missouri State, Tulsa, @ Boise State
2022 - Central Michigan, Arizona State, Arkansas (Pine Bluff)
2023 - Central Arkansas, @ Arizona State, South Alabama
2024 - Arkansas, @ Tulsa, TBD
2025 - @ Oregon, Tulsa, TBD
2026 - @ Tulsa, Oregon, TBD
2027 - @ Arkansas, Tulsa, TBD
Only single games scheduled so far after 2027
@ Tulsa in 2028, 2030; Tulsa in 2029, 2031; Arkansas in 2032, @ Arkansas in 2033; @ Nebraska in 2034; Nebraska in 2035
