Read Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer’s argument about who they believe fumbled their chance at potential BCS glory already this season.
In 2007 T. Boone Pickens, the 80-year-old oil turned new energy tycoon got out his huge checkbook. As one of the more famous graduates from Oklahoma State University, when he gets his checkbook out, folks notice. Folks take FURTHER notice when that check turns out to be for $165M… and is classified as a “gift.” Generous.
That donation, combined with the existing trust and a boatload of wise investments, left the school with a high class problem: How do we invest $343M? Needless to say, as happy as tennis coach James Wadley was to hear about the gift, the football program was the squeaky wheel deserving of a whole boatload of grease. And they got it in the sum of $120M to be turned into new offices, new locker rooms, new training facilities, and additional seating in an enclosed portion of the team’s stadium. The team was also built a multi-purpose indoor team training facility… in addition to the three other practice fields built for the program. Surely it is an impressive sight for any recruit to behold. In 2007, though the program finished just 7-6, it was going places.
When the calendar turned to 2008 expectations were ramped up. Their conference was never better. Though Oklahoma State lost three conference games, they lost to first ranked Texas, second ranked Texas Tech, and third ranked Oklahoma. Though the bowl loss to Oregon was suspect, the team was still riding a high in the offseason.
Expectations continued to build for the upcoming 2009 season. An opening weekend game against tough non-conference rival and top ten BCS favorite Georgia was just what the doctor ordered for a team poised to make an early national championship run. The Cowboys would play their highly ranked chief rivals for Big XII and BCS glory. The team had a soft mid-year non-conference schedule that would function for stat-padding their Heisman contenders while serving as walk-throughs for the freshman to gain experience. All the team had to do was “take care of what they could control” – which is much easier when backed by a $120M endowment!
Oh, and the program had some highly touted Heisman Trophy contenders. In 2008, quarterback and team leader Zac Robinson tossed over 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns against just ten interceptions. Running back star Kendall Hunter notched 1,555 yards and an excellent 16 touchdowns while averaging six and a half yards per carry. Wide receiver Dez Bryant grabbed 87 passes for 1,480 yards and a whopping 19 touchdowns. All three were in Heisman conversations when the year started. The team, and its stars, were poised for greatness in 2009.
Instead they blew it, more than any other team in college football. Oklahoma State had the funding. Oklahoma State had the perfect schedule tailor-made for a title run. Oklahoma State had the leadership and star power to make a run at the sport’s most important trophy – a championship.
Now, once the media darlings and sleeper BCS picks for the Big XII South, conference, and even BCS title, the Cowboys are again relegated to also-ran status after a week two loss to an unranked Houston team. Programs that are ready to make the leap into the elite category simply do not make these mistakes. They take no opponents off. They refuse to allow 45 points to an unranked team. The lofty top five ranking and national scrutiny were apparently too much for the Cowboys to handle… even if $120M is not.
Did you guys see that the College Football HOF was coming to Atlanta? I also saw that T. Boone Pickens was interested in bringing it to Dallas. Whats his connection to Dallas?
Doesn’t OSU have the schedule to get back in the hunt though?
Yea, we saw that. We hoped the HOF could turn into a topic, but we couldn’t make it work!
Pickens was an oil tycoon. That is your Dallas connection.
What about OSU’s schedule has you convinced they can claw their way back into the hunt?