Bill Haisten
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
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As it is among the schools in the Oklahoma State University system, Langston University hosted last week’s meeting of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents.
Before they were served a good-looking lunch, board members heard an announcement from an emotional Ronald Ramming, the popular president at Connors State College. Ramming shared his plan to retire next summer.
Among the agenda items:
From Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, there was a report on enrollment.
From Connors State, there was a request for board approval of its Nursing Student Handbook.
And from Oklahoma Panhandle State in Goodwell — which, interestingly, is 15 miles closer to downtown Denver than to downtown Tulsa — there was a request for the board to approve the process of purchasing a backhoe.
Less than a week after the Cowboys were battered 69-3 at Oregon, there was no official discussion of the condition of the Oklahoma State football program. Also, there was no official talk about OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg and whether he soon gets a new contract.
Since July 1, Weiberg has been working without a contract.
Indecision is never a good look for university administrators. If I were an Oklahoma State donor, I’d be anxious to see a display of real leadership. I’d want to know that my gifts aren’t poured into a bucket of infighting and dysfunction.
Before and after the board meeting, of course, there were quiet conversations about Mike Gundy, Weiberg and the Cowboy football crisis. I know that because I was involved in a few of them.
I reminded one conversation partner that OSU faces Oregon against next season, at Stillwater.
His reaction: “I wonder if we should get out of some of the games we’ve got coming up over the next several years.”
He was suggesting, presumably, that it might be wise to cancel OSU’s 2026 Oregon rematch and the Cowboys’ home-and-home, non-conference contract with Alabama.
My reaction: shying away from elite competition would be a horrifying statement. It would be a disservice to everyone who played a part in building a winning situation at Oklahoma State.
Here’s what you do: You don’t run from tough challenges. You embrace them.
You fix OSU football. You do host Oregon next season, and you do host Alabama in 2028 and visit Tuscaloosa in 2029.
You go into battle with rosters that can host and defeat teams like Oregon and Alabama. And Arkansas and Nebraska — each of which also is on upcoming Cowboy non-conference schedules.
Winning at Tuscaloosa is going to be difficult, even if OSU takes a talented quarterback and team down there. But a nationally respectable program should contend for the Big 12 title every year and, by extension, secure or at least fight for a spot on the College Football Playoff bracket.
Within the OSU athletic department, I seriously doubt that there has been any discussion about stripping A-list opponents from future non-conference schedules.
The softening of Cowboy schedules would be a sickening statement.
Within the Big 12, non-conference scheduling philosophies run the gamut from challenging to boring.
Through 2032, Kansas State’s most glamorous non-conference opponents are Oregon State, Washington State and NC State.
Iowa State faces rival Iowa every year, but otherwise, through 2030, the Cyclones’ non-conference schedules include low-profile teams like UNLV, Bowling Green and Tulane.
If I were an OSU fan, I’d prefer to see one super interesting non-conference opponent each year. Upcoming for Texas Tech: a cool three-game series with Arkansas. What makes it cool? The first of those games — in 2030 — is played at the Las Vegas Raiders’ stadium.
A nationally respectable program should win against nearly all opponents on its home field. When the Cowboys are rolling and Boone Pickens Stadium is rocking, OSU has a strong homefield advantage.
This is what Oklahoma State leadership has to attack with urgency: to examine the reasons why OSU is 16-20 since 2022, and, with available resources and great coaching, do whatever it takes to have Cowboy teams of 2028 and 2029 look like the Cowboy teams of 2010-11 and 2015-17.
Of course — roster assembly/retention is incredibly complex now. Money matters as much as size, speed and coaching.
However, if a program like Iowa State’s can flourish in college football as it is now, Oklahoma State certainly should.
And if you could actually quantify this, I’m thinking the OSU fan base has more money and greater donation potential than Iowa State.
Today, Iowa State is 4-0. At No. 12, the Cyclones are the Big 12’s highest-ranked team.
Before the Oregon disaster, OSU did beat Tennessee-Martin but the Cowboy performance was uninspiring.
Over its last 18 games, Iowa State is 15-3.
Over their last 18, the Cowboys are 7-11.
At 6:30 p.m. Friday, the Cowboys host the University of Tulsa. Can the Golden Hurricane prevail in Stillwater for the first time in 74 years? If so, imagine the OSU fan reaction.
I know it’s important for Panhandle State to have a functioning backhoe, but Oklahoma State administrators and regents should be freaking out over this Cowboy football slump.
There should be an extremely aggressive strategy to getting it fixed, and that process has to start now — if it hasn’t already begun.
There has to be complete transparency. OSU constituents should be made aware that such an effort is ongoing.
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Bill Haisten
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
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