Oklahoma State's Expectations Hampered by 2024 Season
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Oklahoma State is looking to ascend back into the Big 12 title picture, and it can’t let 2024 get in its way.
OSU is in a strange position as it enters the 2025 season. After winning only three games last season, OSU has an almost entirely new coaching staff under Mike Gundy and has a roster filled with newcomers looking to make an instant impact in Stillwater.
After the 3-9 campaign in 2024, most analysts around the country are expecting an underwhelming year from the Pokes. With the expectation that OSU might only be able to improve by a couple of wins, the Cowboys are pegged as a group that will struggle to make a bowl game.
All of that could certainly pan out to be true, but the Cowboys also could have the talent to compete in the Big 12. One of the biggest reasons OSU is expected to simply be a middling team that struggles to get to .500 is because of its disastrous 2024 season.
Of course, most of the key players and coaches from that season have moved on, leaving the Cowboys with a much different look as the 2025 season quickly approaches. Sure, the immense changes could leave OSU in a position where it struggles to adapt, but these types of changes are the name of the game in this era of college football.
At least from the roster perspective, OSU isn’t undergoing some unheard of roster overhaul. Some of the most successful teams in recent years have turned their rosters upside down using the transfer portal.
While the Cowboys’ coaching overhaul certainly isn’t all that normal, the new staff is coming into a situation where there are only a handful of returning starters from last season, effectively giving the staff a runway to work with players who haven’t become accustomed to other coaches in Stillwater.
Change can be scary in all facets of life, and too much change often leads to skepticism. That’s exactly what the Cowboys are experiencing ahead of next season.
While everyone in Stillwater is excited about next season and there is a fun energy within the program, the national perspective on the Cowboys is still uncertain at best. Any great season from OSU in 2025 will be attributed by many to Gundy’s coaching and how he overachieved with his teams once again.
In reality, this could simply be another season of OSU being overlooked because the college football world is staring at a situation that no longer exists.
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.