David Pollack Predicts 1-Win Team to Compete for College Football Playoff

The Oklahoma State Cowboys hit rock bottom in 2025, and that is exactly why they might become one of the most dangerous turnaround teams in college football heading into 2026.

After opening the year 1-2 with an embarrassing 69-3 loss to Oregon and a 19-12 defeat against Tulsa, Oklahoma State fired longtime head coach Mike Gundy during his 21st season. The Cowboys eventually limped to a 1-11 finish, ending one of the worst years in program history.

Gundy still left behind a legacy that included a 170-90 record, 17 bowl appearances and a Big 12 championship, but the program clearly needed a reset. Oklahoma State looked stale offensively, lacked explosiveness and appeared miles behind the modern direction of college football.

That is why the hire of Eric Morris feels so important.

Morris arrives in Stillwater after posting a 21-15 record at North Texas, including an 11-2 season in 2025 where the Mean Green fielded one of the most explosive offenses in the country.

North Texas averaged 45.1 points per game, ranked No. 2 nationally in passing offense and produced one of the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks in Drew Mestemaker.

Now Mestemaker is following Morris to Oklahoma State after throwing for 4,379 yards, 34 touchdowns and just nine interceptions last season.

That combination is why David Pollack believes Oklahoma State could become one of college football’s biggest surprises.

"You know good and well who I'm picking. If I'm picking one of them... I'm Cowboyed up this year, baby," Pollack revealed on 'See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.'

"You bet. I'm gonna get the Cowboy hat out before the season, and I'm gonna ride them, Cowboy. It's not here yet, but there will be a time when you see mock drafts, and you'll see Mestemaker in the top 10. That dude is a dude... I don't think they'll make it."

Pollack stopped short of predicting a College Football Playoff appearance, but the comparison is obvious.

What Oklahoma State is attempting mirrors what Curt Cignetti accomplished at Indiana. Cignetti took over a struggling program, brought key players with him from James Madison and immediately changed the culture and production level. Indiana then reached the College Football Playoff in Year 1 and won a national championship in Year 2.

That blueprint matters because modern college football is no longer built on slow rebuilds. With the transfer portal and NIL, programs can flip quickly if they hit on the right coach and quarterback combination. Oklahoma State believes it has both.

Morris is considered one of the brighter offensive minds in the sport, and his system creates stress on defenses with tempo, spacing and aggressive vertical concepts. More importantly, he already has a quarterback who understands the offense at a high level. That dramatically shortens the adjustment period.

The Cowboys also addressed several roster holes through the portal after ranking near the bottom of the Big 12 in scoring defense, total offense and explosive plays last season. That matters because one of the biggest reasons quick rebuilds fail is lack of roster depth. Oklahoma State attacked that issue aggressively. Still, there are legitimate concerns.

Winning at North Texas is not the same as winning in the Big 12. Defenses are faster, deeper and far more complex. Morris also inherits a program coming off a complete collapse, not a team that simply underachieved by a few games.

But this is where the optimism becomes reasonable.

Programs with experienced quarterbacks and elite offensive systems can win quickly in today’s game. Just look around college football. Indiana did it. Arizona State did it. Miami rebuilt itself through transfer quarterbacks. The formula exists.

The biggest reason to buy Oklahoma State is simple. Teams do not usually go from 1-11 to playoff contention unless they completely change their identity. The Cowboys did exactly that this offseason. Now the question becomes whether Morris can replicate the magic at a Power Four level.

If he can, Oklahoma State may go from one of the worst teams in the country to one of the biggest stories in college football.

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