Oklahoma State's Starting to Look Good in the Eyes of the CFP Committee
STILLWATER – The College Football Playoff committee released the updated rankings Tuesday evening and the Cowboys climbed two spots to No. 7, as expected.
The CFP committee chair Gary Barta spoke with members of the media following the release of the rankings, and he had some good things to say about the Pokes, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“Oklahoma State, their defense has been terrific,” said Barta. “They have a great win against Baylor. Texas Tech couldn't do anything against Oklahoma State's defense this past weekend. Their offense shows signs at times; they do enough. Spencer Sanders and that group do enough, but they're more defensive-minded. They have the loss on the road at Iowa State. So, all of that is considered, and that just gives you a sense of some of the things we talked about among those three teams. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma play each other, and that will be a piece of information that will be important to add to the conversation.”
To be specific, and a little obvious, the conversation Barta’s talking about is the CFP. OU climbed a few spots up to No. 10, so Bedlam is officially a top-10 match-up. Should the Cowboys win out, which would include another win over a very good Baylor team, it would give the committee quite a bit to think about based on the Pokes’ statistics this season, as well as strength of schedule.
According to several entities, the Cowboys have a SOS ranked within the top-10.
“You know, last week I said the committee watches every team is a little bit different in their style, and the committee watches every team and starts to recognize their style,” said Barta. “I know this, and I'm not saying this to be smart aleck; if you win 23-0, if you don't let the other team score, you're going to win. Defense wins championships and all those things. The challenge is can that defense hold up against a dynamic offense, a much more dynamic offense. If they end up continuing to win by playing great defense, the committee will recognize that and rank them accordingly. I only say that their offense hasn't reached some of the levels of some of the offenses because if you're a complete team you have both sides of the ball. They've earned the right to be No. 7 because they're only giving up about 13 points a game, at least in conference play, and so they're a terrific team. We'll just have to see the rest of the way out how it plays.”
The Cowboys still have to take care of business, and there’s still things that have to happen ahead of the Pokes the next few weeks for the CFP to be a possibility, but Mike Gundy and Co. have put themselves in a great position down the stretch when it matters most.