If the College Football Playoff grows the way it appears headed to, Oklahoma State may be looking at a very different postseason future than the one it has lived through so far.
ESPN reported Friday that ESPN and the College Football Playoff had agreed in principle to broadcast the added inventory for a 24-team playoff. That television deal was viewed as one of the major pieces needed to push the expanded format closer to reality. There are still more votes to clear and more hurdles ahead, but the agreement marked a significant step.
For the Big 12, that shift would open a door that has never really been there before. A team like Oklahoma State would not necessarily have to win the conference to get a playoff berth. It would simply need a résumé strong enough to catch the attention of the CFP committee.
The postseason has already transformed dramatically since the BCS national championship game arrived in 1998, moving from two teams to four and then to 12. So what would happen if a 24-team field had existed when the four-team playoff began in 2014? For Oklahoma State, the answer is: a lot more chances.
The Cowboys have never reached the College Football Playoff, and they never made the BCS either, although they came incredibly close in 2011. Earlier this week, 247 Sports applied a 24-team model to the four-team and 12-team eras dating back to 2014 to see how programs would have fared under the bigger setup.
Their findings were eye-opening for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys would have made the playoff six times since 2014. Within the current Big 12, only Utah would have qualified more often, with eight bids, most of them coming during its Pac-12 years.
The same study also placed former Big 12 members Oklahoma and Texas in the SEC. Oklahoma would have gone to the postseason nine times, while Texas would have gotten in six times.
Overall, the Big 12 would have averaged four playoff bids per year, according to the research.
For Oklahoma State, that kind of access would have meant six shots at a national title under Mike Gundy. Gundy, the winningest head coach in school history with 170 victories, delivered just one conference championship, but his teams were almost always bowl eligible and consistently competitive enough to stay in the mix. In a 24-team field, that kind of steadiness would have carried real weight.
And while the idea of expanding the playoff remains divisive, it could be especially helpful for first-year Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris. The new format would give the Cowboys more chances to matter on a national stage, and that would help the program both now and down the road.
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Oklahoma State Just Got Another Recruiting Boost At The Right Time
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Neal arrives as one of the more promising names in the class, sitting near the top of Oklahoma States current haul. For a program trying to keep momentum on the trail, landing a defensive lineman this early is the kind of development that can help set the tone for what comes next, especially with more recruiting decisions still to play out. [Read more 🡒]