Oklahoma State Eyes a Turnaround, Inspired by Indiana's Cinderella Run
STILLWATER - For the past two seasons, Oklahoma State has been stuck in the mud when it comes to conference play. Not a single win to show for it.
That drought isn’t just a stat line - it’s personal. Just ask head coach Eric Morris.
“I had breakfast with Luke Webb yesterday,” Morris said. “He’s been here two years.
Redshirt freshman. Loves this place.
And he’s never won a conference game. That’s personal to me now.”
That kind of frustration doesn’t just linger - it motivates. And this offseason, the Cowboys have two very real reasons to believe the tide might finally be turning.
First, there’s the talent infusion. According to 247Sports, Oklahoma State boasts the No. 7 transfer class in the country.
That’s not just a number - it’s a lifeline for a program looking to reboot. Second, and perhaps more inspiring, is what just happened in Bloomington, Indiana.
Yes, that Indiana. The program that had long been synonymous with college football futility just hoisted the national championship trophy.
Not only had the Hoosiers never hit the 10-win mark before, they were widely considered one of the sport’s most unlikely contenders. Now?
They’re the reigning champs.
“For college football fans across America, it gives hope to everybody,” Morris said.
And he’s not wrong. From 2006 to 2024, the national title scene was a closed club.
Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, and LSU dominated the landscape, combining for 18 championships and 10 runner-up finishes over a 23-year span. That’s 57% of the title game appearances locked up by just five programs.
Then came Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers - a team that went 3-9 in 2023 before his arrival. Since then? They’ve gone 27-2 with back-to-back playoff appearances and a national title to cap it off.
“The parity that it has made in college football,” Morris said. “The revenue share has made these recruits go to so many different places than they did in the past.
Now it has allowed [national championships] to spread out, all across the nation. And I think it’s exciting for coaches… and exciting that someone’s now done it.”
That “someone” - Cignetti - didn’t just win. He built a blueprint. And while Morris isn’t claiming he’s about to duplicate Indiana’s miracle overnight, he’s clearly paying attention.
“Is it easy? Hell no,” Morris said. “But there’s a blueprint to do it now.”
There are parallels, no doubt. Cignetti leaned heavily on the transfer portal, bringing in 13 players from James Madison to help flip Indiana’s fortunes. Morris is following a similar path, bringing 18 players with him from North Texas - plus three more who made their own way from Denton to Stillwater.
“Indiana being able to do it this year, I think, put a bunch of people on watch,” Morris said. “Do I think we’re going to be able to go in and all of a sudden do it now because Indiana did it?
No, absolutely not. Curt Cignetti deserves so much credit - not only for the roster he built, but just the brand of football that they played.”
But Morris isn’t shying away from the idea of building something similar. He’s seen firsthand how culture and continuity can travel.
He helped guide Cam Ward - now an NFL No. 1 overall pick - through the leap from Incarnate Word to Washington State. Ward followed Morris from the FCS to the Power Five and thrived.
Now, Morris is betting on quarterback Drew Mestemaker to make a similar leap.
“When you bring players with you at times,” Morris said, “obviously when you’ve been around enough ball and you’ve been at different levels, you know the guys and the caliber of athletes that come in and they can produce at that level - and at the next level.”
There’s no sugarcoating it: Oklahoma State has a long road ahead. But with a top-tier transfer class, a coach who’s seen the climb before, and a national champion blueprint drawn up in Bloomington, there’s a renewed sense of belief in Stillwater.
And for players like Luke Webb - who’ve waited two years just to taste a conference win - that belief can’t come soon enough.