OSU Football Given Eighth-Best Odds to Win Big 12 Conference Championship
No matter what the Cowboys accomplish, they continue to get slighted by Vegas.
A season ago, Oklahoma State came one win away from being Big 12 champions. Though they were dominated by the Texas Longhorns in the conference championship, the Cowboys had a hectic, fun ride to find themselves in the championship game -- which included defeating Oklahoma in the final Bedlam matchup.
The Big 12 is entering a new era, and this leaves the top of the conference up for grabs. Both Oklahoma and Texas are headed to the SEC -- two programs that would have arguably had the best odds to win the conference should they have stayed in the Big 12 another season.
Oklahoma State feels like a natural pick to take over at the top of the conference in the upcoming season. They've been one of the most consistent programs over the last decade-plus. They've got 130 wins since 2010, which is the eighth-most across all Power Five programs in that time frame.
Ahead of the season, BetOnline gave the Cowboys the eighth-best odds to win the Big 12 for the 2024 college football season with 16/1 odds, which is tied with TCU.
Ahead of the Cowboys is Kansas State, who holds the best odds at 3/1, shortly followed by Utah with 7/2 odds. Those two programs are much more comparable for Oklahoma State than Iowa State or UCF. Texas Tech, Arizona and Kansas each also having better odds than Oklahoma State are also wild, considering how much talent the Cowboys are returning.
Ollie Gordon, the nation's leading rusher a season ago, is going to give the Cowboys instant offense, along with Alan Bowman, his receiving corps and the entire starting offensive line all returning.
Defensively, Bryan Nardo will be in his second season, and continuing to establish his style with a more experienced defense will be much easier.
There's absolutely no reason for the Cowboys to continue and receive no respect from oddsmakers, especially as they've played in two conference championships in the last three years in a conference that's going to get even easier.
Evidently, the Cowboys seem to play well with no expectations, so it may be better for Oklahoma State to receive no respect in the odds.
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