The Athletic Has Oklahoma State at No. 22—The Highest Preseason Ranking Yet for Eric Morris’ Cowboys

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We've officially reached a new level of Oklahoma State preseason hype. We've seen the Cowboys receive votes in the AP Poll.

Joel Klatt put Oklahoma State at No. 25. We've seen OSU mentioned as a potential sleeper in the Big 12.

But Chris Vannini of The Athletic? He's going even further. Vannini released his preseason ranking of all 138 FBS teams Monday and has Oklahoma State sitting at No. 22 in the country.

That's the highest I've seen the Cowboys ranked anywhere this preseason.

For a team coming off a 1-11 season? That's remarkable.

From 1-11 to No. 22?

Seriously, think about what we're talking about here. Oklahoma State won one football game last season.

The Cowboys haven't won a Big 12 game since 2023. Mike Gundy is gone. Most of last year's roster is gone.

And before Eric Morris has coached his first game at Boone Pickens Stadium, we're now seeing a national writer put OSU inside the Top 25.

Vannini hasn't exactly been hiding his optimism. Earlier this month, he selected Oklahoma State as one of his potential College Football Playoff sleepers. His reasoning centered around the unusual nature of this rebuild.

Oklahoma State didn't simply hire Morris and then ask him to recreate what worked at North Texas. Morris brought much of it with him.

Vannini pointed specifically to quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and receiver Wyatt Young, along with defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity and many other familiar faces from North Texas.

Maybe Continuity Changes Everything

That's been the fascinating part of this entire offseason. Usually when a program changes coaches and turns over virtually an entire roster, we talk about patience.

Year 1. Learning the system. Building chemistry. Getting everybody on the same page.

Oklahoma State's situation is different. Mestemaker already knows Morris' offense. Hawkins knows it. Young knows it. Miles Coleman knows it. A huge collection of transfers already knows exactly what Morris expects.

And remember what that group accomplished last season. North Texas had the No. 1 offense nationally in both yards and points, while Mestemaker led the country in passing and Hawkins scored 29 touchdowns.

That's why Vannini previously wrote that he would be “shocked” if Oklahoma State didn't at least reach a bowl game, while pointing to the continuity as something that gives the Cowboys a much higher ceiling. 

Now we know just how high he believes that ceiling could be. No. 22 in America.

The OSU Hype Is Becoming a Trend

One preseason ranking doesn't mean much by itself. But this isn't happening in isolation anymore.

Oklahoma State received eight votes in the preseason AP Poll, putting the Cowboys on the outskirts of the Top 25.

Klatt put them at No. 25. Vannini has called them a CFP sleeper. And now The Athletic's complete FBS ranking has OSU at No. 22.

At some point, it stops feeling like one person taking a wild swing. There's legitimate national curiosity surrounding what Morris has assembled in Stillwater.

Final Thoughts

Will Oklahoma State actually be the 22nd-best team in college football? We'll find out soon enough.

Because ultimately, everything we've discussed this offseason comes with the same disclaimer: They still have to do it in the Big 12.

But just consider how quickly the perception of this program has changed. A few months ago, Oklahoma State was coming off a 1-11 disaster and undergoing one of the biggest transformations in college football.

Now? The Cowboys are No. 22 in The Athletic's preseason ranking.

That's the highest I've seen them anywhere. And whether OSU ultimately lives up to it or not, one thing has become pretty clear: People outside Stillwater are starting to believe in Eric Morris' rebuild, too.

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