Maybe it’s early to talk seriously about Oklahoma State as a Big 12 Championship game contender. Then again, the Cowboys have earned the right to make people pay attention.
No. 18 Oklahoma State is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play, putting it among five league teams that still haven’t lost in conference action.
That makes Saturday’s matchup with No. 20 Houston even more interesting, because the Cougars arrive at 5-1 and 2-1, and the winner gets a stronger grip on the early race.
It’s one of two ranked matchups on the weekend, alongside No. 8 BYU’s non-conference game against No.
2 Notre Dame.
Houston’s spot in the league standings is about to be tested, but even if the Cougars lose to Notre Dame, they’ll still be undefeated in Big 12 play heading into next week. Oklahoma State doesn’t have that luxury. The Cowboys are putting their perfect conference mark on the line, with Texas Tech hosting Arizona State, Utah visiting Colorado and Baylor meeting TCU in the other Big 12 games that could also keep the league’s unbeaten picture intact.
For coach Eric Morris, the bigger point is how tight the league has become.
“It’s just super-competitive week-by-week, and I think we’ve both positioned ourselves right now to play a really meaningful game early in the season,” Morris said of Saturday’s game. “I told the team today, ‘This is where you want to be.’”
The buzz around Oklahoma State makes sense given where this program has been. The Cowboys went 1-11 in 2025, won just four games combined over the past two seasons, dropped 18 straight Big 12 games and carried a 21-game skid against FBS opponents after losing to Tulsa in the opener.
Then came the turnaround. Oklahoma State stunned Oregon, ending that long FBS losing streak, and followed it by winning at West Virginia on Sept. 26 to finally snap the Big 12 drought. Since then, the Cowboys have put together their longest winning streak since 2023, when they won five straight before reaching the Big 12 Championship game against Texas.
That’s why this moment has caught on so quickly with the fan base. The season is still only a little more than a third complete, but for a team and a crowd that have spent the last two years grinding through losses, Saturday feels a lot bigger than an ordinary October game.
Morris also pointed to the Cowboys’ game against UCF as another reminder that nothing comes easy in this league. Oklahoma State beat the Knights 42-28, but Houston handled the same UCF team 27-17 a week earlier. In both games, a depleted UCF squad hung around and made life difficult deep into the night.
“You don't look down that list on the schedule and be like, ‘All right, you know, this is a week we can plan to take it easy and get some guys out and play young guys,’” he said. “Like that's not going to happen.”
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Drew Mestemakers Rise Has Oklahoma State Fans Watching One Big Test
Drew Mestemakers rise has been one of the early talking points around Stillwater, and Mel Kiper Jr. added to the buzz by slotting the Oklahoma State quarterback near the top of his midseason 2027 NFL Draft board. Kiper pointed to Mestemakers arm strength, mobility and toughness while highlighting the way he has helped drive the Cowboys 4-1 start, including the recent win over UCF that kept the season moving in the right direction.
Now the attention shifts to Houston, where Oklahoma State gets a different kind of test against an offense that can make a game uncomfortable in a hurry. For Mestemaker, it is another chance to show that the strong start is about more than early-season momentum, and that the Cowboys can keep stacking wins against a challenge that looks a little less forgiving on paper. [Read more 🡒]
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Among the names drawing the most attention is Drew Mestemaker, whose recent play has pushed him near the top of the conversation as the Big 12 heads into another pressure-filled week. The challenge now is less about whether he belongs in that group and more about how he handles the kind of matchup that can change the tone of a race this deep into October, especially with Houston waiting as one of the leagues bigger measuring sticks. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Faces Its First Real Big 12 Test Against TCU
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Houston is the kind of test that can help separate a good start from something more lasting, especially with other key Big 12 matchups unfolding around the conference. For Oklahoma State, the stakes go beyond one Saturday, because every result now feeds into how the Cowboys are viewed in a race that still has plenty of room to change. [Read more 🡒]