Originally published at: https://pistolsfiringblog.com/i-think-its-going-to-work-immediately-andy-staples-discusses-why-he-has-the-pokes-as-a-preseason-top-25-team/
Staples has OSU as the No. 23 team in the country entering the season.
“Ari and I’s jaws just dropped when he’s like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t believe in it. I thought NIL was a flash in the pan and was gonna go away.’ And I’m like, ‘Excuse me?’ So, Oklahoma State’s donors obviously knew that long ago, and they were basically starving him out. They didn’t give him any resources.”
He had resources before NIL even became a thing. He got one Big 12 title and two wins against his biggest rival in 16 years before NIL started. What they knew is that he wasn’t the coach you needed to hand a bunch of money to, and watch your best QB sit on the bench. The evidence was already there for them to look at 
. It wasn’t about starving him out. It was the recognition that Probation Pat was back.
Yeah I’m glad he believes in OSU turning it around quickly. I’ve said it before, I don’t think OSU should be ranked in any preseason poll. What impressed me more was having 5 Big 12 teams ranked and they were spread out.
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With the schedule we have and the O-line is okay we should win 4 out of first five. I don’t think Tech qb holds up, Houston could be a problem to me. I still think we finish top four
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For me, I see an offense with a lot of potential and a defense with a lot of ???. That’s why until I’ll see it on the field, I’m in the 5 to 7 win range.
Yeah, if Hammond at Tech doesn’t hold up, then BYU is the team to beat, but it’ll be wide open for the other spot in the Big 12 CCG.
Houston will be a problem. A lot of starters coming back from a 10 win team and a HC will a great track record. If I was doing a preseason Big 12 ranking, Houston would be a 3.
That’s what I think as well. I think 6 wins is a successful first year. Five is not what you want, but if the ball doesn’t bounce your way in a couple of close ones, it happens. The only reason I think 7 is reasonable (and an outside chance at 8) is because the league as a whole seems a bit down and more games seems in play than an average year–a game like the Iowa State game seems more favorable because of their coaching change and talent turnover, so a game where we would’ve been a solid dog turns into a game where we’re probably favored.
I see fans chalking games up as Ws like West Virginia. I don’t know if your first ever Big XII game being a cross country road trip to Morgantown is the slam dunk that everyone thinks it is. WVU also added some nice pieces in the portal. If they get it pulled together, they’re going to be better than they were last year. If we won that game and especially if we won comfortably, I’ll be snorting lines of orange Kool-Aid because that’s a great win that would show tons of early maturity and cohesion.
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Yea…they have the same coach I said wouldn’t be a bad hire for OSU several years ago. People like Michael13 laughed at it. Looks like it’s working out okay for Houston so far . Of course, the ones who were wrong will never admit it.
Based on what I can see from the schedule I think 6-8 wins is a good possibility based on what other teams have returning and what they’ve gotten in the portal. WV seems to be getting some praise for their activity in the portal when they essentially have only done what OSU and Gundy did in the portal last offseason. We seen how that worked out.
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I’m really interested in how we compete in the Oregon game. If its another Savanah State level debacle, then OSU’s probably in trouble. But if we can compete enough that Oregon isn’t playing the 3rd string in the 3rd quarter, then we’ll probably be highly successful in the Big 12.
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We are going to have VERY GOOD barometer test(s) immediately in Week(s) 1 & 2 to assess quickly what sort of TALENT & COACHING upgrades the program achieved in the off-season. Arguably, Tulsa and Oregon will be better than their 2025 versions given they have 80% (+) of their 2025 total team production ‘back’ with more experience and sprinkled in new skilled talent from the Portal. We are about to get a great and good read on this team EARLY!
Here’s a strange phenomenon. I actually agree with HeyChamp. West Virginia isn’t a gimme. That said, I think Rich Rod is very much like Gundy in that he has failed to adapt his offensive style to match today’s defenses that have so much more speed in the LB and Safety positions. But that’s an underrated venue and home crowd, and will be rocking for their team early in the season.