OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -Since the preseason, Oklahoma State football players have worn orange wristbands with black lettering that reads “Big 12 Champs.”
They can forget about that goal.
The Cowboys’ 56-20 loss at No. 2 Texas Tech on Saturday night knocked them from contention for the conference title. Oklahoma State (8-2, 4-2) could conceivably share the Big 12 South, but would lose tiebreakers to represent the division in the conference title game.
With their long-stated primary goal now out of reach, the 11th-ranked Cowboys figure now to try and qualify for the best possible bowl – perhaps the Cotton or Holiday, or even a Bowl Championship Series game if everything falls just right.
But coach Mike Gundy said Sunday that potential bowl destinations haven’t crossed his mind.
“We just concern ourselves with the next game,” said Gundy.
The Cowboys face Colorado (5-5, 2-4) on Saturday.
ome of Colorado and this is a good defense that we’re getting ready to face. They’ve been pretty sound except for against Missouri (a 58-0 loss). They’ve got guys who can make some plays.”
In the wake of the loss to the Red Raiders, Oklahoma State players maintained the party line that the defeat, while lopsided, didn’t have to mark the end of their unexpected run as a Big 12 heavyweight.
“We’re going to try our best to look past this and get ready for next week,” sophomore receiver Dez Bryant said. “Practice hard and leave this off to the side.”
Added senior safety Ricky Price: “We’ve got to take this and learn from it. We’ve got to get out there and prepare for next week.”
Gundy said the atmosphere of Oklahoma State’s trip home to Stillwater after the game indicated the maturity of his team.
“Guys were disappointed and there wasn’t much talk,” he said. “It was a quiet bus ride and a quiet plane ride.
“This team is mature and has good leadership. We went out and played a good football team and got beat. You’ve got to give them credit. I’d like to think these guys will come back and prepare well to play on Saturday.”
After three straight road games against top-three opponents – with one win, one close loss and one blowout defeat – Oklahoma State’s final road game of the regular season might seem easier with Colorado merely trying to become bowl-eligible.
oned against complacency.
“Our football team is better and we’ve continued to improve each year and each game,” he said. “We obviously had a setback this week, but we will have to be ready to play each week. We’re not deep enough to just walk into anybody’s stadium and expect to win without playing well.”
After playing Colorado, the Cowboys will have an open date before closing the regular season at home against No. 5 Oklahoma. Winning both games would significantly improve their postseason stock.
Oklahoma State last played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas following the 2003 season – losing 31-28 to Mississippi – and hasn’t appeared in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego since 1988, when Gundy, then the Cowboys’ quarterback, was handing off to Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders and passing to Hart Lee Dykes in a 62-14 rout of Wyoming.
Holiday Bowl selection committee member Eric Graves attended the Cowboys’ home game against Iowa State on Nov. 1 and said that bowl would like to have Oklahoma State, depending on how the rest of the season went for the Cowboys.
An at-large BCS bowl berth still is possible, but at No. 13 in the BCS standings, Oklahoma State trails four other Big 12 teams – No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 3 Texas, No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 12 Missouri. The Cowboys would have to jump three of those teams and have scenarios in other conferences break right for them to have a chance.
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