Oklahoma State Moves Up in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25
Oklahoma State has expectations in 2024.
After finishing the 2023 campaign with a 10-4 record, the Cowboys are looking to build on that momentum next season. In one of the Cowboys’ wildest seasons in recent history, they made a Big 12 Championship appearance and won the Texas Bowl.
After falling apart to end the 2022 season, OSU finished last season ranked. With the No. 16 spot in the final AP poll, OSU made up for a rocky start.
ESPN has similar expectations for the Cowboys next season, giving them the No. 17 spot in its way-too-early top 25. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach noted the Cowboys’ offense as the reason for their ranking.
“There's reason for optimism with the return of tailback Ollie Gordon II, the FBS' leading rusher with 1,732 yards in 2023,” Schlabach wrote. “Also back are all five starting offensive linemen, leading receiver Brennan Presley and quarterback Alan Bowman, who was given an NCAA waiver to play a seventh season.”
More than anything, those facts show how OSU is seemingly back to the early Mike Gundy days. Not only is OSU’s ranking based almost entirely upon the offense, but also the team is well within range of making the College Football Playoff, which expands to 12 teams next season.
Although Bowman and Presley are important, the Cowboys will go as far as Gordon and the offensive line take them. After a big season in 2023, opposing defenses will gameplan around him next season.
OSU doesn’t need Gordon to win another Doak Walker Award, but it does need him to push the team over the hump in fourth quarters like he did last season. With the Big 12 champion getting an automatic trip to the playoffs, OSU’s national goals will be well within reach, regardless of any potential fiascos like the one against South Alabama in 2023.
The Cowboys seem like a lock to enter the season ranked, but only time will tell if they can finish in the top 12.
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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.