CFB Futures – 2024 Oklahoma State Cowboys Win Total Odds

With powerhouse programs leaving the Big 12 can the Oklahoma State Cowboys become the anchor team in the reimagined conference? Under Mike Gundy the Pokes have won a lot of games, twice in the last three years hitting double figures while reaching the Big 12 championship last season. Over the past five seasons OSU won more league games than Texas and was just one behind Oklahoma, so there are reasons to believe they can do it. However, for as many big wins as they have the Cowboys have also come up some head-scratching losses that have kept them out of the national discussion. Putting things together in a league that’s presumably weaker than in years past has the Cowboys in position to go over their win total of 8 at BetMGM.

Regular Season Wins for the Oklahoma State Cowboys

Over 8 ( -138 )

Under 8 ( +118 )

Early CFB odds suggest the Cowboys can win more than eight games. It isn’t a stretch for a team that won nine regular season games a year ago and reached 10 overall, the eighth time in the past 14 seasons under Gundy the Cowboys won double-digit games. The roster was overhauled after a dismal season and OSU improved from seven victories in 2022. A number of players responsible for the turnaround are back and more consistency within the roster should prevent setbacks like the team experienced against South Alabama and UCF last year.

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Roster

Teams that value experience at quarterback will be envious of Oklahoma State. Landing Alan Bowman in the transfer portal last year proved to be a good get. Bowman threw for 3,460 yards and 15 touchdowns and will hopefully be even better now in his seventh season of college football. Bowman spent time at Texas Tech and Michigan with 34 scoring passes in 26 career games. Overall the offense was good averaging 431.8 yards and almost 30 points. Those numbers could have been better but Bowman completed just 60.7 percent of his passes and was intercepted 14 times. OSU was 8-0 when QBs completed at least 60 percent.

Even though the Cowboys finished in the bottom half of the Big 12 in most major offensive stat categories, they made it work. And they appeared to get stronger as last season moved along scoring at least 29 points in seven of their last 10 games. The offense will rally around Ollie Gordon II, who led the FBS in rushing yards with 1,732 and was second with 21 rushing TDs. An imposing line helped open the holes for Gordon and it will have to be even stronger now that he’s a marked man. With four starters expected back the line has a chance to be that much stronger.

Taking some of the load off Gordon will be an improved passing attack. Bowman had his moments but the picks killed a number of possessions. He was intercepted three times in a 45-3 loss to UCF, which came a week after upsetting Oklahoma. In the bowl win over Texas AM, Bowman was 34 of 49 for 402 yards and two TDs. More consistency will help and Bowman has a comfort level with Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens. Presley had 101 catches last year and Owens was second on the team with 63 receptions. The two combined for 11 of the team’s 18 TD receptions.

The defense surrendered a lot of yards and a lot of points last season, but they were good at extracting the football from opponents. The Cowboys had the third-most takeaways in the Big 12 and had a positive margin despite mistakes from the offense. It’s hard to imagine the turnovers being there in big numbers so stopping opposing offenses and being stingier on third down will help to get the unit to the upper half of the Big 12 rankings.

Schedule

The schedule appears to be favorable with no game against Arizona, Iowa State and Kansas. And of course there are no matchups with Texas and Oklahoma. But the Cowboys have to show up every week to avoid games like last season when they were manhandled by South Alabama and UCF. With Utah in Week 4 and a trip to Kansas State the following week, OSU gets the toughest Big 12 opponents out the way quickly. Winning non-conference games against South Dakota State, Arkansas and Tulsa is a must and five of their final six games are against teams that didn’t qualify for a bowl game a season ago.

Prediction

I’m not completely sold on the Cowboys taking over as the big dog in the Big 12. Some of those teams that didn’t qualify for a bowl last season have improved and OSU’s weak defense leaves too much out there for them to overcome. They should be able to score points and will be in just about every game, but you get what you see in Bowman and that’s a big problem leaving OSU fans wanting more.

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