Oklahoma State football has been one of the most consistent brands in college football over the last two decades. But just when head coach Mike Gundy thinks he's seen everything, the entire Big 12 Conference gets turned upside down.
With the influx of conference realignment, the Big 12 is no stranger to change. Over the last two years, they've added eight new members while losing two of their most prominent (Texas and Oklahoma). Yet, the Cowboys still stand, now hoping to be the leaders of the conference.
Gundy has produced eight double-digit win seasons in his 19 years in Stillwater. However, he has just one conference championship to his name, going all the way back to 2011. And now, a slew of westerners are coming to challenge for the title that feels deserving for the Cowboys if for nothing else, their loyalty to the Big 12.
At the end of the day, though, it's about winning football games, which weren't exactly coming at the start of last season. Oklahoma State football got off to a sluggish start, going 2-2 with a loss to, of all teams, South Alabama, 33-7.
But all things are new again for the 2024 season, where the record is reset to zeroes. For the Cowboys, they have a total of 10 starters on each side of the ball coming back, which is the most in the conference, per Athlon Sports. Can that be the advantage to retake the Big 12 title? Let's get into some Oklahoma State football bold predictions.
Ollie Gordon II wins Doak Walker Award again
If you can look past all of his recent legal troubles and just concentrate on his football skills, Ollie Gordon II should once again be one of the best running backs in the nation.
Last year's Doak Walker Award winner rushed for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns, with another 330 receiving yards and one more score. If not for Gordon, Oklahoma State football's offense might have been in a lot of trouble last season. They finished just eighth in total yards in the Big 12 last season, and even with Gordon, they were ninth in rushing.
The biggest issue for Gordon will be that the Cowboys could be duking it out offensively in a lot of games this season, as the conference is set for an offensive explosion. That means Oklahoma State could be throwing the ball a lot more. But, Gordon has shown he's pretty reliable out of the backfield.
If Gordon has another standout year, good enough to win the Doak Walker Award, he would be the first two-time winner in history.
Oklahoma State will rely heavily on Alan Bowman to win games
You might be saying, “Well, of course they'll be relying on the quarterback to win games. Duh.” This is true, but in Bowman's case, it's even more so. This is a season where Bowman, entering his seventh collegiate season, is really going to have to prove himself.
He's got plenty of experience at this point, bouncing around from Texas Tech, Michigan, and eventually to Stillwater. Last year he played the most of his entire career in 14 games. While he racked up nearly 3,500 yards, he threw 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, finishing with a completion percentage of 60.7. That's something that cannot happen this season if the Cowboys hope to make it to the conference title game.
As mentioned, the Cowboys may be put in situations a lot during the 2024 season where they're going to be passing the ball a lot, in some shootouts. Bowman will need to be precise and accurate with his throws.
Oklahoma State football finishes the first half of the season with two losses
If Oklahoma State can get through the first half of the season unscathed, the second half is much more manageable. The good news is, at least, that four of their first six games are at home in Stillwater. The bad news is, they'll face two to three top 25 teams in that span, with two of those being the top two in the Big 12's preseason poll: Utah and Kansas State.
Sandwiched between the South Dakota State opener and a road game at Tulsa will be a matchup with SEC member Arkansas. It's likely Cowboys fans aren't sleeping on anybody, though, given the loss to South Alabama last year. And though there could be much worse opponents out of the SEC, it's still a matchup to watch out for.
The real tests, though, come in a three-game gauntlet starting on September 21 when Utah visits the Cowboys, followed by a road test in Manhattan to face Kansas State, then back at home against West Virginia. All three of those could turn out to be offensive showdowns — though Utah's defense should be challenging against the Cowboys.
Unless these are blowouts, it would be hard to classify two losses in the first half of the 2024 season as a bad start considering the circumstances. After all, this is now a Big 12 conference that has all the likelihood for parity and pure chaos this season.
Oklahoma State misses out on Big 12 Championship Game
The Big 12 is wide open in 2024, thanks to two of the old faces out and four new faces in. Oklahoma State has as much of a chance as the rest of the conference to be vying for a spot in the conference title game at the end of the season. However, as good as Gundy's teams have been over the years, they've often slipped up when they shouldn't have. That could easily happen again this year, and probably will. With so many legitimate, talented teams in the conference this year, Oklahoma State could find themselves left out of the title game despite making a comeback to play in it last year.
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