Despite picking them to finish in his Big 12 Championship prediction ahead of the 2024 season, CBS Sports’ Josh Pate has changed his stance on one particular league member.
Ahead of their Week 5 matchup vs. No. 23 Kansas State, Pate crushed the Oklahoma State Cowboys, saying, “They’re not a good football team, and they shouldn’t be top 25.”
“Oklahoma State, they dropped from 14th to 20th after their loss,” Pate said. “They’re still ranked. We didn’t have them ranked top 25 last week when they were undefeated. They shouldn’t be ranked top 25 and they’re not a good football team.”
Oklahoma State played their worst game of the season in Week 4 vs. Utah, who entered the matchup without star quarterback Cam Rising. The Cowboys were held lifeless for the better part of three quarters before mounting a late comeback.
One of the biggest criticisms of the team in 2024 has been the drastic production fall-off from junior running back Ollie Gordon. During his Doak Walker campaign in 2023, Gordon posted more than 1700 rushing yards while averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Through four games this fall, Gordon has recorded 258 rushing yards on just 3.5 yards per carry.
“The preconceptions you had about them were wrong,” Pate continued. “I thought their offensive line would be really good, too. They’re not. We were wrong. Get rid of them. I thought their tailback and their running back would be really good. We’re wrong. Get rid of them! They should not be in our top 25.”
Pate finished his thoughts by discussing the Arkansas game and his perception that the win blindfolded fans about the disappointing reality of the group.
“The Arkansas game further misled you people because for all intents and purposes in terms of predictability, in terms of win expectancy, they lost the game,” Pate said. “They got credit for the win in the stat sheet, as they should, but trying to figure out how good all of these teams are, I guess a lot of people got fooled by the Arkansas game.”
No. 20 Oklahoma State and No. 23 Kansas State will face off on Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas, at 11:00 a.m. CT.
