OSU Cowboys Football Has SEC to Blame for Losing Alabama Series

While Oklahoma State landed a quality opponent to replace the Crimson Tide, an SEC decision is the biggest driver behind the loss of the series.

Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oklahoma State Cowboys football team lost its home-and-home matchup with one of the preeminent programs in college football on Thursday. They can blame the SEC if they like.

As the SEC transitions to a nine-game conference schedule beginning this season, the league’s 16 members have made difficult alterations to their long-term non-conference game agreements to accommodate the ninth game.

That was at the root of the decision as Oklahoma State and Alabama called off their scheduled series in 2028 and 2029. The Cowboys announced that they will play the Michigan State Spartans as a replacement for those games. Michigan State will visit Stillwater on Sept. 16, 2028, and the Cowboys will travel to East Lansing, Mich. on Sept. 15, 2029, the school announced.

Re-Making Non-Conference Schedules

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen Deboer. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Big 12 has played a nine-game conference schedule since the league shrunk to 10 members more than a decade ago. The league stayed at nine games as the Big 12 expanded to 16 teams. The Big Ten also plays nine league games. The ACC and SEC are both transitioning to nine-game league schedules over the next two seasons.

The SEC’s move will align it with the other power conferences, but it created an issue for both Alabama and OSU, as they needed home games the same weekend.

The Big 12 also requires its football teams to play at least one power conference opponent in non-conference each year. The Cowboys couldn’t just drop the game and schedule a lesser opponent. OSU already has games scheduled with Tulsa and Southeastern Louisiana in 2028, along with Tulsa and Lindenwood in 2029. Oklahoma State had to find a power conference opponent for those spots.

The Cowboys are scheduled out in non-conference for the next four seasons, per FBSchedules.com. This season, Oklahoma State opens the season at Tulsa on Sept. 5, followed by home games on Sept. 12 against Oregon and Sept. 19 against Murray State.

In 2027, Oklahoma State hosts Western Illinois and Tulsa, with a trip to Arkansas in between the two games.

The site also lists games the Cowboys have tentatively set up through 2035. OSU should play Tulsa in 2030 and 2031, Arkansas in 2032 and 2033 and Nebraska in 2034 and 2035, the last of which renews a former Big 8 rivalry.

But the loss of the Alabama games takes a chance from Oklahoma State to prove itself against one of the best programs in the country. Regardless of the replacement, it’s an opportunity lost.