Oklahoma State Set to Face One of Worst FBS Teams in 2025

The Cowboys might not have to work too hard to get one of their wins.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy walks off the field in the second half during an NCAA football game between Oklahoma State and Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma State is set for another season, and it should have an easy win just before Big 12 play.

Last season, OSU won only three games and failed to win against any Big 12 opponents. Now desperate to bounce back, Mike Gundy’s team will take any wins it can get.

While another three-win season seems nearly impossible after all of the changes the Cowboys made, they will still have an uphill battle in 2025. However, they should at least get an easy matchup leading into their conference slate.

In ESPN’s recent “Bottom 10” ranking, which ranks the worst of the FBS, Ryan McGee put Tulsa in the No. 7 spot. The Golden Hurricane certainly enter next season without high expectations, with new head coach Tre Lamb and company looking to bounce back from their own 3-9 season in 2024. However, McGee clearly doesn’t see much changing from what Tulsa put out to finish last season.

“The Golden Hurricane lost their last four games of 2024 by surrendering an average 55.75 points per contest,”McGee wrote. “It was the most excruciating finish we've been forced to witness since the Game of Thrones finale.”

That finish to last season wasn’t all that different than what OSU went through. Sure, OSU didn’t lose by an average of eight touchdowns, but a 52-0 embarrassment at Colorado was the end result the last time the Cowboys took the field.

A free win that could be costly

The Cowboys now see the Golden Hurricane as their biggest annual rival after Oklahoma’s departure to the SEC, but they won’t be able to keep selling this matchup as a true rivalry unless Tulsa has some significant improvement in the near future. Even as both teams were on their way to three-win seasons, OSU pummeled Tulsa in T-Town 45-10.

Considering that everyone is seemingly already looking at this as a free win, and it sure looks like one on paper, this matchup in Stillwater could be one that does nothing to help prepare OSU for the Big 12 slate. Considering the Cowboys face UT Martin in Week 1 and play at Oregon in Week 2, there really isn’t a game on the nonconference schedule that reflects the average level of competition in the Big 12.

Although there isn’t a guarantee that type of game will show up every year, especially when the premier opponent like Oregon enters as a top 10 squad, the Cowboys typically have at least one game against an average-ish opponent.

Without that reality in 2025, it will be just about impossible to truly have anything nailed down about the Pokes if they enter their Big 12 opener against Baylor with the 2-1 record everyone is expecting.

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