Comparing Oklahoma State’s Top 25 Poll Drops After Losses to Iowa State, Houston
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One thing about the Top 25 polls — you can fool the voters once, but you can’t fool them twice.
Oklahoma State has now learned that lesson.
The Cowboys (5-3, 3-2 in Big 12) fell to the Iowa State Cyclones, 51-49, on Saturday, a loss that ensured they would lose their foothold in the AP Top 25 and votes outside the Top 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. OSU didn’t just drop from the AP Top 25 — it plummeted out, receiving just three votes.
This is what happened when the Cowboys lost to the Houston Cougars two weeks ago when they were a ranked team and played on the road. The difference is clear this time — a loss to a ranked team means more to voters than a loss to a non-ranked team like Iowa State. Here’s the breakdown.
USA Today Top 25
The Cowboys were not ranked in the USA Today US LBM Top 25, which is voted on by head coaches in FBS, including OSU’s Eric Morris. The Cowboys have only been ranked in this poll once this season — No. 20 after their Week 6 win over UCF. That week OSU received 403 votes.
The following week the Cowboys lost to then-ranked Houston, 35-32. The Cowboys fell out of the Top 25 and lost a wealth of votes, dropping to 87 votes that week. The win over Colorado last weekend nudged the Cowboys up to 120 votes and were just outside of the Top 25. It was certainly possible that OSU would have moved into the Top 25 had it won on Saturday.
Instead, OSU only received nine votes. By percentage, that was a 92.5% drop from the Colorado win to the Iowa State loss. By percentage the drop after the Houston loss was only 79.5%.
Even in the loss, the offense has a huge game, led by quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Justin Bowick.
Previous Weeks
Preseason: 22 votes
Week 1: No votes
Week 2: 16 votes
Week 3: 36 votes
Week 4: 126 votes
Week 5: 187 votes
Week 6: No. 20 (403 votes)
Week 7: 87 votes
Week 8: 120 votes
Week 9: 9 votes
AP Top 25 Poll
The drop in the AP Top 25 was even more pronounced, percentage-wise, than the drop in the USA Today Top 25. The Cowboys only received three votes after the Iowa State loss.
After the Houston loss the Cowboys went from No. 18 in the country to out of the poll. OSU fell from 604 votes to 128 votes. That was a drop of 78.9%.
After the Colorado win, the Cowboys’ vote total went up to 180 votes. After the loss to Iowa State, it eroded to a difference of nearly 99%
The Cowboys’ defense had its worst game of the season, allowing 578 total yards and scores on nine different Iowa State drives. It was the most frustrating game of head coach Eric Morris’ young tenure.
Previous Weeks
Preseason: 8 votes
Week 1: No votes
Week 2: 36 votes
Week 3: 50 votes
Week 4: No. 19 (345 votes)
Week 5: No. 18 (477 votes)
Week 6: No. 18 (604 votes)
Week 7: 128 votes
Week 8: No. 24 (180 votes)
Week 9: 3 votes
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Matthew Postins is the publisher of Oklahoma State on SI. He is an award-winning sports journalist who was formerly the editor of the College Football America Yearbook and covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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