One terrible year, and suddenly Mike Gundy, the Cowboys’ longtime coach, is battling to show he’s still got it. That 3-9 finish didn’t just shake fan confidence—it triggered an all-out roster overhaul, raised questions about the team’s direction, and even put Gundy’s legacy under the microscope. And now, as the 2025 season approaches, national projections are adding insult to injury.
It’s a humiliating 0-9 run in the Big 12 and the Cowboys’ first winless conference record since 1991. Despite Gundy’s impressive past—18 bowl appearances in 20 seasons, a winning record almost every year, and being Oklahoma State’s all-time winningest coach—he is now facing serious doubts.
Analyst Kelley Ford is projecting Big 12 standings with teams like Kansas State, Arizona State, and BYU at the top, which is understandable. But even Kyle Whittingham’s Utah is placed in the middle with a five-win projection, despite ending last season 5-7. Meanwhile, Gundy’s Cowboys are near the bottom, projected to win just three games. While this seems based on last year’s performance, it’s a shocking fall for a program used to at least seven wins and major bowl dreams.
But not everyone is buying the narrative. Cody Stovall, host of Locked on Oklahoma State, is still betting on Gundy. “The one thing that we’ve always been able to count on—whether you love Mike Gundy or you despise the dude—is when the chips are down and the haters are coming out from the woodwork saying Oklahoma State’s going to be terrible, those are the years that Mike Gundy does good.”
That’s not just blind loyalty—it’s backed by history. Under Gundy, the Cowboys have had only one losing season in nearly two decades. They’ve appeared in six New Year’s Six bowls, won the 2011 Fiesta Bowl against Stanford, and stacked 17 straight bowl berths from 2006 to 2022. So when Gundy gets counted out, he often comes roaring back.
And yet, this year, he’s being counted out again. FanDuel Sportsbook gives Utah +600 odds to finish third in the Big 12. Oklahoma State? A jaw-dropping +5000, placing them 14th in the conference. For Cody Stovall, that prediction says more about perception than reality.
Stovall added, “Utah’s projected to be towards the top once again on a lot of projections, yet Oklahoma State is going to be at the very bottom. Part of the conversational pieces as to why Utah is going to be at the top is because of Kyle Whittingham, even though Mike Gundy has a better winning record than Kyle Whittingham. You see what I’m saying here? It’s like the picky and the choosy stuff.”
Now, that’s where the disrespect truly hits. Gundy’s 169-77 career record (.670 win percentage) is better than Whittingham’s, and yet national projections continue to treat Oklahoma State like a rebuilding afterthought. The reality is more nuanced.
Projected Big 12 Standings v1 pic.twitter.com/vfzfYwSJmK
— Kelley Ford (@KFordRatings) June 17, 2025
Yes, last season was ugly. And yes, the Cowboys lost key contributors like Ollie Gordon, Brennan Presley, Collin Oliver, and Nickolas Martin. But Stovall believes the idea that OSU will collapse again just doesn’t hold up.
“Everybody is going to have to rebuild some portions of the roster every single season. Projecting that Oklahoma State’s going to have another three-win season—that just mathematically doesn’t compute, because we’ve had worse teams that had better seasons. I mean, the basement for 18 years was seven wins—the absolute basement.” So if roster changes aren’t the reason for the doubt, what is?
Mike Gundy gets a tough season verdict
Following last year’s collapse, Gundy wasted no time shaking things up. He brought in 22 new recruits and a whopping 40 transfers to reshape the roster. Big names joined the coaching staff too, including Doug Meacham and Todd Grantham as new coordinators. But even with these upgrades, critics aren’t convinced.
Shehan Jeyarajah of 365 Sports gave a blunt assessment of the team’s chances in 2025. “By the way, this was not an untalented 3–9 team. Ollie Gordon’s gone. Brennan Presley is gone. You know, Collin Oliver is gone. Nickolas Martin is gone. These are really good Big 12 players that they’re going to have to go into 2025 without. And on top of that, they replaced essentially every single assistant on the roster, including both coordinators,” Shehan noted.
Last season’s squad had real stars. Gordon racked up 880 rushing yards, 29 receptions, and 13 touchdowns. Presley pulled in 90 catches for 767 yards and seven scores. Oliver earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors three years in a row, and Martin made First-Team in 2023. Losing all of them at once is a serious hit.
But Gundy hasn’t sat on his hands. He’s already reloaded with promising talent. Wide receiver Cam Abshire transferred in with eye-popping stats—1,054 yards and 13 touchdowns on just 51 catches in his redshirt sophomore season. At quarterback, TCU transfer Hauss Hejny joins Zane Flores to give OSU needed depth and competition under center.
Still, the pressure is real. And Shehan made it clear what’s at stake. “So I think that this team is a bottom-tier Big 12 team until further notice. And if that does happen—I mean, look, I don’t know what it even looks like to fire Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State—but I think that some difficult conversations will probably take place.”
That’s a tough message for a coach who’s practically synonymous with Oklahoma State football. But if history is any guide, this might be the exact situation where Gundy surprises everyone.
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