OSU Football: Favorable Schedule Could Lead to Long Winning Streak
Winning any game is difficult, but winning many in a row is a feat reserved for the best teams.
Oklahoma State is entering 2024 with high expectations. Coming off of a 10-win season that included a trip to the Big 12 Championship, OSU’s immense returning production has the team in one of its best positions ever.
Although the Cowboys are not seen as a significant threat nationally, they have an opportunity to flip that script this season. Most notably, the Cowboys will need another spectacular season from Heisman hopeful Ollie Gordon II.
Last season, Gordon led the nation in rushing yards and won the Doak Walker Award. As the leader of OSU’s offense, Gordon’s skillset could make for a historic season in Stillwater.
Still, the Cowboys will need everyone else on both sides of the ball to step up to take the team over the edge. If OSU can carry its momentum from last season into 2024, the longest winning streak in school history could be on the table.
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OSU’s longest winning streak is 13 games, spanning three seasons from 1944-46. With a win in the Texas Bowl last season, OSU would need an undefeated regular season to match that streak. However, the single-season streak could be well within reach.
Mike Gundy has led the Cowboys to their two longest winning streaks, both 10-game stretches. The first 10-game winning streak came in 2011 when OSU ranked as high as No. 2 before falling to Iowa State to end the team’s national title hopes. Gundy’s group started 10-0 again four years later in 2015, but that quickly came crashing down as the team finished 10-3.
The Cowboys’ schedule in 2024 is not easy by any means, but it does have some favorable stretches that could propel them on a lengthy winning streak. After a nonconference schedule that includes South Dakota State and Arkansas at home, the Cowboys will likely face their toughest two-game stretch to begin conference play.
OSU faces Utah at home and plays at Kansas State in back-to-back weeks to open the Big 12 slate. Those two matchups will not only determine OSU’s ability to have a long winning streak but also could be instrumental in the Big 12 title race.
The Cowboys will then play West Virginia before their first bye week. If OSU is undefeated at that point, almost anything is on the table for the team next season.
OSU will then play four games sandwiched between bye weeks, all against teams that had losing records last season. Although the toll of a long season could get to OSU at some point, the prospect of a big streak is there.
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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.