Oklahoma State Ranked No. 12 in Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll

STILLWATER – The Associated Press released its 2022 Top 25 Preseason Poll on Monday morning and, the Cowboys make their debut at No. 12.

This marks just the second time in the past five years the Cowboys find themselves in the AP’s Preseason Top 25 rankings.

This coincides with the USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll as the Cowboys are ranked No. 11 there.

Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll

1. Alabama (54)
2. Ohio State (6)
3. Georgia (3)
4. Clemson
5. Notre Dame
6. Texas A&M
7. Utah
8. Michigan
9. Oklahoma
10. Baylor
11. Oregon
12. Oklahoma State
13. North Carolina State
14. USC
15. Michigan State
16. Miami (FL)
17. Pittsburgh
18. Wisconsin
19. Arkansas
20. Kentucky
21. Ole Miss
22. Wake Forest
23. Cincinnati
24. Houston
25. BYU

Others receiving votes:

Tennessee 180, Texas 164, Iowa 163, Penn State 160, LSU 55, Fresno State 32, Minnesota 31, UCF 27, Purdue 17, Mississippi State 15, Auburn 15, Kansas State 14, Florida 14, North Carolina 9, Boise State 5, Air Force 4, Appalachian State 4, UCLA 2, San Diego State 2, South Carolina 2, Utah State 2, Nebraska 1

*First place votes in parentheses*

The Cowboys are fresh off a 12-2 campaign in 2021, which was capped by multiple top-25 wins, including a 37-33 win over No. 10 Oklahoma in Bedlam and a 37-35 win over No. 5 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

Mike Gundy returns redshirt senior quarterback Spencer Sanders, who’s coming off a stellar 2021 season as he was tabbed the first team All-Big 12 quarterback. He finished the season having completed 243 of 392 passes for 2,839 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He also rushed for 668 yards and six touchdowns.

He needs just nine more wins to pass Mason Rudolph for most wins as a starting quarterback in Oklahoma State history.

The Cowboys receiving corps also looks to be strong this season as they return nearly every player, most of which logged a significant amount of playing time last season, including Jaden Bray, Brennan Presley and John Paul Richardson. The Cowboys will also have redshirt senior Braydon Johnson as he missed the 2021 season with a medical issue.

The running backs will be without Jaylen Warren, who is currently playing quite well in training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, the Pokes are turning to junior Dominic Richardson to carry the load this season, who will be backed up by Jaden Nixon, Ollie Gordon and Deondre Jackson.

The offensive line will be with graduates Danny Godlevske and Josh Sills, but they return Hunter Woodard and Preston Wilson and will be looking towards guys like Caleb Etienne, Jason Brooks, Tyrone Webber and Taylor Miterko and others to step up this season.

The defense lost a lot of talent from last year to either the draft or the transfer portal, such as Jarrick Bernard-Converse to LSU and Tanner McCalister to Ohio State and Malcolm Rodriguez, Devin Harper, Christian Holmes, Kolby Harvell-Peel and Israel Antwine to the NFL.

But new defensive coordinator Derek Mason has returning starter Jason Taylor II on the back end, a player who has a chance to play for Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, as well as a lot of young talent to plug into positions, such as Korie Black and Jabbar Muhammad at corner, Kendall Daniels at safety and transfer Xavier Benson at linebacker.

The 2022 season kicks off for the Pokes on Thursday, September 1 as Central Michigan comes to town for a 6 p.m. CT kick on FS1.