Oklahoma State's Playoff Hopes Rely on Week 5 Result

The Oklahoma State Cowboys could see their College Football Playoff hopes crash with a negative result on Saturday.

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

Despite coming close at times, the Oklahoma State Cowboys never made the four-team College Football Playoffs. The expansion of the playoff to add to the ever-changing landscape that is college football opened an opportunity for a perennial top-25 program like Oklahoma State to compete for a National Championship.

The 2024 season is the first of the new-look playoff format and the first year the Cowboys can make the postseason by winning the Big 12 championship, assuming they can't make an appearance with an at-large bid.

After losing their first Big 12 contest -- dropping Oklahoma State to 3-1 on the season -- the Cowboys are now facing an uphill climb to make the new-look playoffs. After taking a 22-19 loss to Utah on their home field, which had a final score that appears much closer than the game really was, the Cowboys now travel to Manhattan to take on the Kansas State Wildcats.

With both teams having taken an early conference loss, both programs need the Week 5 win against each other quite desperately as it pertains to their odds of making the title game.

Now, the Cowboys -- a season ago -- had a very shaky start to the season, which they worked out and ended up making the title game. They're going to need to sing a similar tune this season if all is going to work out.

Given the power of the SEC and Big Ten, those conferences will send multiple programs to the playoffs with at-large bids. The Big 12 will likely only send the conference champion. So, the pressure to not only make the title game but win the conference championship is 100 percent there for Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State.

The path to a Big 12 title means the Cowboys are going to have to upset Kansas State on the road on Saturday.

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