oklahoma state cowboys football – Page 2

Big 12 Power Rankings: Cowboys emerge from Bedlam title contenders

Updated Big 12 power rankings. Conference starting to sort itself out with just a few weeks remaining in the regular season.

In the wake of Week 10’s results, the Big 12 has found its favorites for the Big 12 title game in Arlington, Texas.

Though there are still several weeks to go in conference play, the Oklahoma State Cowboys walked out of Bedlam in control of their path to the game. Their win over Oklahoma put them in a tie for first place with the Longhorns at 5-1, and they have a very favorable remaining schedule.

Oklahoma State finishes the season at UCF, at Houston, and at home vs. BYU in their regular season finale. Those three teams have a combined conference record of 5-13.

The Cowboys are a far different team than the one that was blown out at home by South Alabama.

With their controversial win over Oklahoma and Texas’ win over Kansas State, the front-runners for the conference title game have emerged. It’s not impossible for Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma or Iowa State to find their way to Arlington, but they’ll need help along the way to make the trip to the DFW Metroplex.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

Social media reacts to uncalled pass interference on Drake Stoops in Sooners’ loss to Cowboys

The Big 12 officiating crew failed to call a blatant pass interference in the end zone in Oklahoma’s loss to Oklahoma State and here’s how social media reacted.

It’s easy to overlook officiating when it doesn’t have a direct effect on a potential game-winning drive. But what happened in the end zone as Drake Stoops battled an Oklahoma State defender was an egregious injustice to the game of football.

On the crucial third-and-12 late in the game, Stoops was tackled in the end zone with a Big 12 official right there to witness the play. No flag was thrown. Instead of getting the ball first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, the Sooners were forced to settle for a field goal.

There were numerous plays the Oklahoma Sooners left on the field, and there are always plays that could have gone either way. But with the game on the line and Brett Yormark on hand, the Big 12 officials failed to throw a flag on an obvious pass interference. And it had a direct impact on the outcome.

Instead of getting first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, the Sooners had to attempt a comeback in the final two minutes. Instead of leading with less than two minutes to play, the Sooners were trailing. And the officials were a big reason.

It was an unfortunate ending to a rivalry that dates to 1904. Bedlam deserved better than that.

And here’s how social media reacted to the defensive pass interference no call.

5 players that will be key to an Oklahoma Sooners win in Bedlam

For the Oklahoma Sooners to get a win on the road vs. Oklahoma State, these five players will be key.

The build-up to this final iteration of Bedlam has been an interesting one. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State seem to be trending in two different directions.

For Oklahoma, this game has big-time repercussions for the goals they want to accomplish in 2023. A win keeps them in the Big 12 title hunt. A loss creates a far more difficult path.

No one expected Oklahoma State to be a Big 12 contender. They were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll. But the Cowboys have experienced a resurgence since their bye and have won four straight.

The onus falls upon Brent Venables and his staff to right the ship.

Venables knows he and his staff have to coach better, but the Sooners need improved discipline and execution on the field as well.

As Oklahoma looks to get back on the winning side of things, here are five Sooners that will play key roles on Saturday.

No. 11 Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions for Bedlam

The Oklahoma Sooners face a stiff test with the streaking Oklahoma State Cowboys. How will it go? Here are this week’s Sooners Wire staff predictions.

As disappointing as last week’s loss to Kansas was, the Oklahoma Sooners still have everything to play for this season. But all the Sooners need to worry about is going 1-0 this week and winning each day.

Standing in the way of Oklahoma’s hopes to get back to the Big 12 title game are the Oklahoma State Cowboys. It’s been a one-sided affair, but this season, the Cowboys have a squad capable of hanging with Oklahoma and winning what will be the last Bedlam for some time.

How will the Showdown in Stillwater play out? Here are this week’s Sooners Wire staff picks.

Updated look at the ESPN matchup predictor after Oklahoma’s loss to Kansas

How did ESPN’s Matchup Predictor win probabilities change after the Oklahoma Sooners loss to the Kansas Jayhawks?

This week’s loss to the Kansas Jayhawks was a setback in Oklahoma’s journey to the Big 12 title game. While a setback, it doesn’t take anything off the table for the Sooners.

They’re still in a good spot to make the title game. They simply have to take care of business.

However, it would be hard not to be concerned about the Sooners after what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks. Admittedly, the Kansas Jayhawks have a good offense and are a good football team. They’re not the Jayhawks of old.

Still, it puts the Sooners in a situation where they have no margin for error if they want to get back to the Big 12 title game or play for something meaningful in the postseason.

After the loss, here’s a look at how the ESPN matchup predictor views the rest of the Sooners schedule.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Sooners loss to Jayhawks shakes up the top of the conference

Big 12 power rankings are a mess after the Kansas Jayhawks knock off the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Kansas Jayhawks upset win over the Oklahoma Sooners was their first since 1997 after an 18-game losing streak against OU. It showed off the strong direction their program is heading under Lance Leipold and added another team to the Big 12 title race mix.

While the Sooners are still in first place in the Big 12 due to tiebreakers, there are currently five teams with a 4-1 record in Big 12 play and two more teams (West Virginia and Kansas) that are one game back of first place at 3-2.

The depth of the Big 12 is starting to reveal itself as teams begin to beat up on each other. Week 9 provides a semifinals of sorts for the Big 12 title game with Kansas State traveling to Austin to take on Texas and Oklahoma State hosting the Sooners in Stillwater for Bedlam. The teams that come out of this weekend with a win will have the best shot to make the Big 12 title game.

Sooners head to familiar territory in USA TODAY Sports latest bowl projections

In the latest bowl projections from USA TODAY Sports, the Oklahoma Sooners are heading to familiar territory.

The Big 12 has provided some entertaining football through the first eight weeks of the season. At the moment, nine teams are at or above .500 in the conference. Baylor, UCF, and Houston are just one game under the bowl eligibility line.

There’s a long way to go, but it’s possible nine teams could end up bowl eligible.

The big question for the Big 12? Will Oklahoma or Texas be able to do enough in 2023 to make the College Football Playoff on their way out the door?

Here’s where the Big 12 landed in USA TODAY Sports latest bowl projections.

Updated look at the ESPN matchup predictor after the Sooners win over UCF

How does the ESPN Matchup Predictor see the rest of the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 schedule playing out?

At 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12, the Oklahoma Sooners are in the driver’s seat for a Big 12 title game berth and possibly more. But as Saturday against UCF showed, each week is going to be a challenge.

We’ve seen in recent years that the Big 12 provides stumbling blocks along the way for any team attempting an undefeated run. This year is no different.

Heading into the 2023 season, many thought the Oklahoma Sooners’ schedule had few difficult matchups. Just over halfway through the season, games against Kansas, Oklahoma State, West Virginia and BYU look far more difficult than they once did. While TCU may not look like it has a lot going for them after a 41-3 loss to Kansas State, much could change for the Horned Frogs in the next five weeks to make them a serious challenger.

The Oklahoma Sooners simply have to take it one game at a time and show up for each matchup ready to roll. If they are locked in, they’re as good as any team in the conference and nearly every team in the nation.

Let’s take a look at how the win probabilities shifted via the ESPN matchup predictor after Week 8.

Big 12 Power Rankings: Kansas State blows out TCU, Oklahoma State is for real

The contenders in the Big 12 have begun to establish themselves after week 8 action. Here’s a look at the updated Big 12 Power Rankings.

Week 8 in the Big 12 began to reveal which teams will be contenders for the final five weeks of the regular season.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns are the favorites to meet in the Big 12 title game, but several other teams are making their case.

Big 12 play has been wild through the first half of the schedule, but we’re beginning to see some separation from the contenders and the pretenders.

Here are this week’s Big 12 power rankings.

Updated look at the ESPN Matchup Predictor after Sooners’ bye week

How did the ESPN Matchup Predictor shift Oklahoma’s win probabilities after week 7 action?

The bye week is behind us, and the second half of the season is underway. The Oklahoma Sooners are 6-0 and 3-0 in Big 12 play. It was a good time to have a bye, coming off an emotional win over the Texas Longhorns.

The remainder of the schedule has its challenges. Road trips to Lawrence, Stillwater and Provo will prove difficult regardless of how well the home teams are playing.

As we get deeper into the season, teams that seemed to struggle through the first six weeks are starting to figure some things out. It’s hard to know just how good each team the Sooners will face actually is, which isn’t a bad thing. The Sooners will go into each game expecting to get their opponent’s best shot and will be less likely to underestimate them.

After the Week 7 action, let’s take a look at how the ESPN Matchup Predictor has moved Oklahoma’s win probability for each of their remaining six games.