Will Oklahoma State Have a Positive Point Differential Again in 2025?
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Oklahoma State’s matchup against Oregon was so bad that it might have tainted how the Cowboys look on paper for the rest of the season.
On Saturday, OSU lost at Oregon 69-3 in one of the largest losses in program history. Although the team narrowly escaped setting a new record for the largest loss, it was still a disheartening effort, to say the least.
Losing a game by 66 points can have a plethora of ripple effects. While OSU is now viewed clearly as one of the worst Power Four teams and expected to be somewhere at the bottom of the Big 12 standings, the Cowboys are also already facing pressure to make significant changes again after this season.
Regardless of what Mike Gundy’s job security is over the next few months, that matchup also revealed another potential storyline for the Cowboys this season. OSU’s point differential through two games this season is -46, and there’s a legitimate possibility that the Pokes won’t get that back into positive territory at any point this year.
OSU’s +20 mark through Week 1 was quite underwhelming to begin with, given that the Cowboys were facing a UT Martin team that should have been clearly outmatched. Considering that OSU was in quite a battle with an FCS team for most of the night, it might seem impossible for OSU to get back to positive this season unless it can put together a performance against Tulsa that seems almost unfathomable after the Oregon game.
To get back to an even differential, OSU’s average game the rest of the way would have to be a 4.6-point win. That is especially problematic considering that there might not be a single model out there that projects OSU to get 4.6 wins this season, much less outscore its opponents by that much on average.
Still, OSU’s path to a positive point differential likely involves something in the range of eight wins, if not more. That still shouldn’t be counted out as a possibility for OSU, given that it is still integrating an abundance of new players and coaches and had to face a national title contender in Week 2.
Of course, the reality of the situation is that OSU will almost certainly not be able to hit the positive mark again this season. Instead, it will probably be a better idea to watch how close OSU gets to -100.
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.