Oklahoma State’s path back into the realignment conversation may not run through boardrooms or television partners first. It may start on the field.
That’s the read from On3’s Brett McMurphy, an Oklahoma State graduate who recently spoke with OState Daily about where the Cowboys fit if college football’s next round of conference movement ever arrives. His message was blunt: if Oklahoma State wants to strengthen its standing, the simplest answer is also the hardest one - win.
The Cowboys have not done that enough lately. They finished 1-11 last season and 3-9 the year before, leaving them 4-20 over the last two years.
That came after a stretch in which Oklahoma State was a regular Big 12 contender, reaching the conference championship game in two of three seasons under Mike Gundy. Gundy’s run is over, and Eric Morris, the former North Texas coach, now has the job of getting the program turned around.
McMurphy didn’t sugarcoat Oklahoma State’s chances with the sport’s two biggest leagues. When asked about a possible jump to the SEC or Big Ten, he was direct.
“I'm just telling you the facts - this is nothing negative about Oklahoma State - but there is no way the SEC is going to add Oklahoma State,” McMurphy said. “They've got Oklahoma.
They had that chance and they don't need two schools from the state of Oklahoma. The Big Ten values AAU universities, and for people that aren't aware of that, it's a very highly prestigious academic rating that Oklahoma State does not have.”
Even with that outlook, McMurphy said the Cowboys can still improve their long-term position by becoming a winning program again. That, in his view, is the best defense Oklahoma State has if realignment starts moving again.
“I don't want this to sound all gloom and doom but the best thing Oklahoma State can do is win because the more you win the more attractive you are,” he said.
If the SEC and Big Ten do expand again, McMurphy said their attention would likely turn to ACC schools, with both leagues favoring a regional approach. He pointed to the SEC’s preference for staying in its footprint and noted that the Big Ten has already moved into the West with four schools, leaving the South as the area it has yet to truly enter.
That could leave the ACC and Big 12 in a very different place, possibly forcing the two leagues toward a merger of some kind. McMurphy also offered one view that, oddly enough, gives the Big 12 some protection in the long run.
“I think the Big 12 is in a better position than the ACC because nobody really wants the schools in the Big 12,” he said. “It’s kind of an island of misfit toys.”
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