Oklahoma State Reaches Early, Critical Point of Big 12 Football Race

The Oklahoma State Cowboys know they’re only playing their third league game, but the race for the league’s championship game is already on.

OSU running back Caleb Hawkins. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Perhaps it's too soon to get hyped up about Oklahoma State being in the race for the Big 12 Championship game. But, then again, maybe not.

The No. 18 Cowboys (4-1, 2-0 in Big 12) are one of five teams in the conference that is still undefeated in league action. Their contest with No. 20 Houston (5-1, 2-1) is one of two games this weekend that features ranked teams. The other is No. 8 BYU's non-conference showdown with No. 2 Notre Dame. The Cougars, like the Cowboys, are undefeated in league play. And regardless of the outcome against the Fighting Irish, they still will be next week.

But the Cowboys are putting their spotless league mark on the line on Saturday. The same goes for Texas Tech, which hosts Arizona State; Utah, which travels to Colorado; And Baylor, which faces TCU.

Depending upon the results, all five teams could still be undefeated in Big 12 play this time next week. For head coach Eric Morris, is just validation of how much respect he has for the league.

“It’s just super-competitive week-by-week, and I think we’ve both positioned ourselves right now to play a really meaningful game early in the season,” Morris said of Saturday’s game. “I told the team today, ‘This is where you want to be.’”

Oklahoma State’s Turnaround

Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Eric Morris speaks to West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cowboys have given their fans plenty to cheer about after two awful seasons that saw the Cowboys go 1-11 in 2025 and win just four games combined the past two seasons. Oklahoma State also lost 18 straight Big 12 games and had a 21-game losing streak against FBS teams after they lost to Tulsa in their season opener.

Oklahoma State’s surprising win over Oregon snapped that FBS losing streak. Their victory in Morgantown over West Virginia on Sept. 26 snapped that 18-game Big 12 losing streak. Now, the Cowboys are on their longest winning streak since the 2023 season, when at one point they won five straight games en route to an appearance in the Big 12 Championship game against Texas.

So yes, the race to the Big 12 Championship game is barely one-third of the way complete. But for a fan base that has had precious little to cheer about the past two seasons, Morris understands why there's a tremendous amount of hype around Saturday's game with the Cougars.

In fact, playing UCF in a strange way reinforced just how hard the conference is from week to week. The Cowboys defeated the Knights, 42-28, a week after Houston beat the Knights, 27-17. In both cases, a shorthanded UCF team gave both teams plenty of trouble until late in the game.

“You don't look down that list on the schedule and be like, ‘All right, you know, this is a week we can plan to take it easy and get some guys out and play young guys,’” he said. “Like that's not going to happen.”