OSU football: Fan survey reveals guarded optimism for 2024 season & approval for Mike Gundy
- Aug 27, 2024 Updated 10 hrs ago
Berry Tramel
Sports ColumnistMike Gundy’s stock is up. OSU fan expectations, like always, are not out of control. Utah has replaced Bedlam as the game that the Posse wants most to win.
We know this courtesy of David Hudson, a Tulsa native, an Oklahoma City investment banker for BOK Financial and an ardent OSU fan.
Hudson annually combines his passion for the Cowboys and his aptitude for numbers into a fascinating survey of OSU fans. Hudson recently completed his 17th year of gauging Cowboy fans on a variety of subjects, and 1,419 fans participated. That’s a significant number.
Here are the most interesting takeaways from the survey.
OSU fans project 8½ wins
The three highest projections were nine (25.3%), eight (23.9%) and 10 (17.5%).
Cowboy fans often are pessimistic about the upcoming season. In the previous 16 surveys, fans four times projected more wins (0.5 or higher) than the eventual total, eight times projected fewer wins and four times were very close (within 0.4).
Last year, when OSU went 9-3 in the regular season and reached the Big 12 Championship Game, the survey projected 7.8 victories.
K-State most difficult game
Fans give OSU a 50.4% chance of winning at Kansas State on September 28. That’s the lowest projection. Tulsa, which hosts OSU on September 14, is the highest projection, at 88.3%.Here are the rankings:
1. at Kansas State 50.4%
2. Utah 56.6%
3. at Texas Christian 65.9%
4. at Brigham Young 68.1%
5. West Virginia 69.3%
6. Texas Tech 72.3%
7. at Baylor 72.8%
8. Arkansas 72.9%
9. at Colorado 73.0%
10. South Dakota State 77.8
11. Arizona State 83.3%
12. at Tulsa 88.3%.
Using those odds, OSU has a 1.4 % chance of going 12-0. If the Cowboys sweep non-conference opponents South Dakota State, Arkansas and Tulsa, those chances basically double, to 2.8%.
Forget Bedlam, beat Utah
OU has been the team to beat in all 16 previous surveys — the game Cowboy fans most want to win. But with no Bedlam on the schedule, a new arch-villain had to be selected.
OSU fans responded with Utah, which garnered 66 % of the vote. Kansas State was second, at 18 %.
Cowboys picked to win Big 12
Here is the survey’s Big 12 preseason poll:1. OSU
2. Utah
3. K-State
4. Kansas
5. Arizona
6. Iowa State
7. West Virginia
8. Central Florida
9. Texas Tech
10. TCU
11. Colorado
12. BYU
13. Baylor
14. Arizona State
15. Houston
16. Cincinnati.
Gundy ranks tops among Big 12
Mike Gundy hasn’t always carried the day when fans are asked to rank the Big 12 coaches. In fact, this is just the third time Gundy has finished No. 1 in the vote. Hudson debuted this question in 2015.Since then, Gundy has finished behind former K-State coach Bill Snyder thrice, former OU coach Lincoln Riley thrice, former TCU coach Gary Patterson once, KSU coach Chris Klieman once and Iowa State coach Matt Campbell once.
Here’s how the Big 12 coaches ranked:
1. Gundy
2. Utah’s Kyle Whittingham
3. KSU’s Klieman
4. Kansas’ Lance Leipold
5. ISU’s Campbell
6. Central Florida’s Gus Malzahn
7. TCU’s Sonny Dykes.
8. Baylor’s Dave Aranda
9. Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire
10. West Virginia’s Neal Brown
11. BYU’s Kalani Sitake
12. Colorado’s Deion Sanders
13. Houston’s Willie Fritz
14. Arizona’s Brent Brennan
15. Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham
16. Cincinnati’s Scott Satterfield.
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy fan approval rating was 95%, up from 78% a year ago.
Lucas Peltier, AP file photo
Ollie Gordon a fan favorite
OSU fans like star tailback Ollie Gordon. And OSU fans might have seen Gordon’s potential before most.Gordon won the poll this year for favorite offensive player, at 39 %, just ahead of Brennan Presley (35 %). But last year, before Gordon became an all-American, Presley won at 37 %, with Gordon on his heels at 34 %.
And in 2023, fans identified Gordon as the likely breakout star, with 28 %.
This season, the favorite defensive player is linebacker Nick Martin, at 45 %, with linebacker Collin Oliver second at 33 %, not far off the totals that allowed him to win the poll each of the previous two years.
And the 2024 breakout stars were projected to be wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling (32 %) and safety Kendal Daniels (16 %).
OSU is a football school
Hudson always asks fans which sport they most want to win a national title, and football always wins. But the margins are what’s interesting.Here are the 2024 rankings:
1. Football 82%
2. Men’s basketball 7%
3. Baseball 5%
4. Wrestling 3%
5. Softball 2%.
The 75 % gap between football and basketball is a big jump over last season (64 %), and as recently as 2021, the gap was just 39 %. Mike Boynton was quite popular. But four times in the 2010s, the gap was in the 80s. OSU fans did not like Travis Ford.
Gundy approval rating high
Fans were asked their approval rating on a variety of OSU coaches/administrators.Gundy’s approval rating was 95%, up from 78% a year ago. Gundy usually checks in somewhere in the 90s, but not always.
Athletic director Chad Weiberg had an 86 % approval rating; his highest rating was 87 % in 2022.
In ranking coaches and administrators, fans voted softball coach Kenny Gajewski No. 1. Here is the list:
1. Gajewski
2. Gundy
3. OSU president Kayse Shrum
4. Weiberg
5. Wrestling coach David Taylor
6.Baseball coach Josh Holliday
7. Women’s basketball coach Jacie Hoyt
8. Men’s golf coach Alan Bratton
9. Men’s basketball coach Steve Lutz
10. Football defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo
11. Football offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn.
Poor Dunn always finishes last. This is the second straight No. 1 ranking for Kenny G. And Gundy often swings wildly — he ranked fifth in 2023, first in 2022 and eighth in 2021.
Basketball engenders little optimism
Men’s basketball has been on a steady decline for years. Fans this year gave the hoops program a 28 % approval rating. That’s the lowest since the ridiculous eight % in 2014 (did I mention that OSU fans detested Travis Ford?).As always with a new coach, mystery is involved. Hudson gives fans three options: approval, disapproval, unsure. In 2017, with Boynton embarking on his first season, “unsure” carried the day with 65%. This year, with Lutz just a few months into the job, the unsure crowd for basketball is at 71%.
Fans gave Lutz’s team a 30% chance of making the NCAA Tournament, which is the lowest in the history of the survey.
