Oklahoma State Football Needs a Victory Over West Virginia
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are rolling up on a crucial contest against the West Virginia Mountaineers. The contest is being held in Stillwater as Mike Gundy's Oklahoma State squad is looking to win its first Big 12 matchup in three tries.
With the new-look Big 12 -- the conference is as good as wide open. Especially with both Utah and Kansas State suffering losses early in conference play. Oklahoma State, however, has lost two games, each to the two aforementioned teams.
They didn't just lose those games, but they looked bad. That was surprising, given the continuity of talent returning from a season ago. Now playing West Virginia in Stillwater, there's a glaring opportunity for the Cowboys to bounce back.
Given the new 12-team College Football Playoffs format, the top five-ranked conference champions get a bid. More than likely, that'll be the power conferences plus the highest-ranked Group of Five program each season. So, Oklahoma State winning the Big 12 would be enormous.
Surprisingly, the Cowboys are a 3-point favorite. They're projected to win on their home field. However, Alan Bowman has struggled under center. Superstar running back Ollie Gordon hasn't returned close to the form he was playing at in 2023. Overall, Oklahoma State has looked far from the program it was a season ago.
Still, there's plenty of season left. Plenty of conference contests are on the way. Oklahoma State can still bounce back, but the rest of their season rides on Saturday's game against West Virginia. Each week, this will be the case. From here on out, Oklahoma State needs to have a 0-0 mentality.
The Cowboys have their backs against the wall. Frankly, Gundy-led teams have thrived in that role in the past. It's yet to be seen if that'll be the case this year, but following a 42-20 loss in Manhattan a week ago, Oklahoma State will have the chance to show whether they're ready to step up to the challenge or not.
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Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's On SI in 2022