Oklahoma State Projected to Win Big 12 Conference, Tied with Texas

Though the Oklahoma State Cowboys are predicted by Vegas to win the Big 12 Conference, tied with the Texas Longhorns with 5/2 odds, their offense is still fairly unsettled. Head coach Mike Gundy recently said that he hasn’t chosen a starter between his two quarterbacks, Clint Chelf and J.W. Walsh, and will likely use both to open the season.

“I don’t like two-quarterback systems if we have one that’s better than the other or one that’s more experienced,” Gundy said. “Each year is different. Now we have two quarterbacks who are right there with the same amount of experience. We’re obligated to give both of them an opportunity to play in the game. We feel like they can each provide something for the team to give us a chance to be successful this year.”

However, Oklahoma State has one of the most dynamic offenses in the country, and has had one for the better part of a decade now with NFL talents like Dez Bryant, Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden coming out of the program. Gundy attributes much of that success to his coaching staff.

“It’s been a number of years since I’ve really been involved in play calling,” Gundy said. “I have an opinion each week on what I think gives us the best chance to move the ball and score points, and then usually by Monday, I’m out of that room. I have a lot of confidence in the coaches on our staff and the decisions they make, and at the end of the day, they’re the ones that have to instill it in the players in meetings and get it across to them on the practice field. They have to get them to perform on Saturday. I have a lot of faith in the guys that are in that room.”

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve had good players,” Gundy said. “We hit on quarterbacks, a couple of them that weren’t very highly recruited who had come in our system and had success. We believe in our work ethic. We believe in the way we handle our players once they walk on campus as freshmen, and we develop them into — put them in a position to have success on Saturdays in all three phases.”

In the first preseason polls, the Oklahoma State Cowboys are ranked 13^th in the AP Poll and 14^th in the Coaches Poll. They’re an excellent program whose offense can run with the most explosive teams in the Big 12, and their system is ideally suited to hang with offense-first competitors like Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia. Though they’re co-favorites to win the conference with Texas, many experts are leaning toward the Longhorns as the season approaches.

Here are the complete conference title odds for the Big 12, courtesy of Bovada.lv.

Odds to win the 2013-2014 Big 12 Conference       

• Oklahoma State          5/2
• Texas                           5/2
• Oklahoma                    3/1
• TCU                            15/4
• Baylor                         12/1
• Kansas State               12/1
• Texas Tech                  25/1
• West Virginia              25/1
• Iowa State                   40/1
• Kansas                         100/1