Greg McElroy names toughest schedule in the Big 12

The 2024 season was a disaster for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, going winless in Big 12 play. Now, the Cowboys are looking to find a way to bounce back, but they’ll need to do so against what analyst Greg McElroy thinks is the toughest schedule in the Big 12.

McElroy dove into the schedules on his show Always College Football. There, he explained that there appear to only be two games where the Cowboys are the favorite before the season begins, and those are both non-conference games.

“In the Big 12, the toughest schedule goes to Oklahoma State,” Greg McElroy said. “It’s a very real possibility that when you go through the schedule, Oklahoma State could be an underdog in as many as 10 games. Now, we’ll see how things all shake out, but here in the preseason, they’re gonna be favored against Tennessee-Martin in Week 1. They’re gonna be favored against Tulsa on the 19th of September.”

McElroy isn’t alone in thinking that Oklahoma State is staring down a difficult schedule. Phil Steele, for one, has the Cowboys with the 11th toughest schedule in the Big 12. That’s in a season where the Cowboys are entering ranked 11th in the Big 12 in ESPN’s final preseason rankings.

“All the others are extremely tough. You go to Oregon in the non-conference. You get Baylor at home, who I really like, Top 25 team in my eyes. They’re at Arizona, who I think will bounce back. You get Houston,” McElroy said. “Who should be a vastly improved Houston team. You get Cincy at home. You’re at Texas Tech, at Kansas. Two teams who I think have a chance to really surge this year, before a bye. Then, finishing off, Kansas State at home. At UCF in the heat there in Orlando on November 22nd before finishing up at home against Iowa State. An absolute gauntlet of a schedule for what should be a revamped and hopefully re-energized Oklahoma State football team.”

The reality is that expectations are higher than the 3-9 and winless in Big 12 play that head coach Mike Gundy provided in Stillwater last season. That’s left him sitting atop a recent Big 12 hot seat ranking. It also means that he needs to find a way to navigate that schedule quickly.

Greg McElroy makes case for Oklahoma State to bounce back in 2025

Greg McElroy certainly has his concerns about Oklahoma State. At the same time, after an offseason revamp, he does expect an improved Cowboys team.

“I also think [Oklahoma State] will get back to the postseason this year. There are some people that are very knowledgeable about some of the transfers that have been brought in for Oklahoma State, and they believe they can be a legitimate contender this year. I’m not there just yet. There’s too many unknowns right now,” McElroy said.

“Massive overhaul amongst the staff. You bring in Todd Grantham as the defensive coordinator, who has tremendous experience at Florida, at Georgia, in the NFL, at Alabama. He’s been around for a while, so I love that addition. And Doug Meacham is the offensive coordinator, a guy that’s going to air raid and go vertical and try to make sure that there’s a lot of stress being put on the opposing defense. I like the coordinator hires, but I don’t, at this point, know exactly what the personnel is going to look like when playing together. I can identify them, individually, from their previous destination. But, collectively, what will it look like?”

Oklahoma State opens its season on August 28th against UT Martin. After that, Big 12 play is set to begin on September 27th against Baylor.