College Football Playoff Rankings Could be Good News for OSU's Future

The first round of rankings came out this week, and the Big 12 fared well.

Oct 25, 2025; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys interim head coach Doug Meacham and Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire meet at mid-field after the game at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images | Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Oklahoma State’s season might not be heading anywhere, but the rest of the college football picture is heating up.

After falling to Kansas on Saturday in one of their best games of the year, the Cowboys are now 1-8 and still in search of their first FBS win since September 2024. While OSU will have a new coach next season and look to get back in the Big 12 title picture, this season it can only watch from the sidelines as things get more interesting.

With the season entering its final weeks, that also means the College Football Playoff is inching closer. On Tuesday, the committee released its first rankings of the 2025 season, and they were quite interesting.

While the top five of the rankings were unsurprising and mirrored the AP poll, things got more interesting in the remaining spots. Most importantly for the Cowboys and their future, the Big 12 landed two teams in the projected 12-team playoff picture going into this weekend.

Undefeated BYU earned the No. 7 spot, while one-loss Texas Tech came in right behind at No. 8. Utah rounded out the Big 12’s inclusions in the top 25, securing the No. 13 spot.

After the Big 12 only had one team make it into the playoff last season, having three teams in contention for a spot in 2025 is a much better situation. Of course, being in contention for a spot in early November could turn out to mean nothing, especially considering BYU and Texas Tech will be playing this weekend, almost certainly knocking one of those teams out of the top 10. 

As for OSU, Texas Tech is the only Big 12 team in the top 25 that OSU had on the schedule this season, with No. 9 Oregon being the only other team OSU has faced in this first poll. Looking ahead to next season, the Cowboys are slated to face only two of the teams in the current top 25, hosting both Oregon and Texas Tech after traveling to Eugene and Lubbock this season.

Overall, these rankings don’t necessarily paint the most encouraging picture for OSU or the Big 12, but it might show that the conference is taking a step in the right direction. If the Big 12 can consistently get three teams in the top 15 or two in the top 10, there could be some real hope for OSU when it eventually gets back on its feet with a new coach.

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