How One Vote Alters Perception of Oklahoma State Football in 2026

The Oklahoma State Cowboys don't deserve to be ranked in any Top 25 poll going into the 2026 season. The Cowboys haven't earned it. New head coach Eric Morris knows it.

The Cowboys went 11-11 last year, went 4-20 in the past two seasons and have lost 18 straight Big 12 games. All that after reaching the 2023 Big 12 Championship game and losing to Texas.

It's been a hard fall for the Cowboys and Morris is working to turn things around as quickly as possible. As political candidates like to say, every vote counts.

A few days after receiving 22 votes in the USA Today preseason coaches poll, the Cowboys received one vote in the National Football foundation's Super 16 poll. What does it mean?

OSU’s Lone Vote in Latest Poll Has Meaning

Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young does the pistols firing motion with his right hand. — Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Super 16 poll is different from either the USA Today or the Associated Press Top 25— and not just because it’s only 16 teams. It’s a joint project between the Football Writers Association of America and the NFF. The pollsters consist of FWAA writers and College Football Hall of Famers who were selected to create a balanced-geographical perspective.

The NFF even provides the results of individual ballots so there is transparency. There are 56 writers and CFHOF members voting this year, including Robert Allen, who is the sideline reporters for Oklahoma State football games.

Allen was not the one who voted for Oklahoma State. It was ESPN’s Max Olson, who covered the Big 12 for the Athletic and for ESPN before he settled into a national role with ESPN in 2024.

The individual votes don’t provide justification. But in Olson’s eyes going into the season, he sees the Cowboys as the third-best team in the Big 12. Texas Tech was ranked No. 10 on his ballot while BYU was No. 15. Texas Tech and BYU were the only two Big 12 teams ranked in the preseason Top 16, with the Red Raiders at No. 11 and the Cougars at No. 15.

It's a vote of confidence from one national writer when most are assessing Oklahoma State as a middle of the road team in the Big 12. Most preview magazines had the Cowboys finishing in eighth place. That would likely lead to a 7-5 season in a bowl game. But Morris has higher ambitions and believes the Cowboys can be better than that in his first season.

He worked toward that by bringing in nearly 90 new transfer players, with an emphasis on bringing over some of his key players from North Texas. That includes his triplets from last season — quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young. He also brought most of his staff from a team that went 12-2 last year.

Preview polls tend to do little to move the needle with head coaches. But for a fan base craving success, every vote helps feed the ego going into the season opener against Tulsa.

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