A Look at Oklahoma State’s Bowl Projections at the Midway Point of the Season

Support PFB with a PFB+ membership — $8 a month or $50 for a year.

It’s been a (relative) while since Cowboy football has had to worry to much about where they are projected to go bowling.

After an 18-year bowl streak snapped in 2024, the Cowboys haven’t gone bowling in two seasons. It’s still not a guarantee this year, but at 4-2, it’d take a collapse I’m not ready to even think about for the Cowboys to finish short of the six-win threshold.

At the halfway point of the regular season, here is where different outlets project the Pokes.

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. SMU
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. SMU
On3 (Brett McMurphy): Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. SMU
Sports Illustrated (Bryan Fischer): Pop-Tarts Bowl vs. Virginia Tech
CBS Sports (Brad Crawford): Liberty Bowl vs. Missouri

Get ready to learn Pop-Tart, by the sounds of it.

If you’re going to go to a bowl instead of the College Football Playoff, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has positioned itself as at least one of the more fun bowls to go to with all the hijinks of eating the game’s mascot.

And as a guy who doesn’t mind a Disney trip (especially when it’s not 1,000 degrees in Florida), a trip to Orlando doesn’t sound half bad, either.

The Cowboys haven’t played in this bowl since it gained a new title sponsor, but they have made the trip to the Orlando-based bowl twice in the past decade.

Their most recent trip came after the 2020 season when it was the Cheez-It Bowl. OSU finished the regular season at 7-3 that year (shortened because of the pandemic). Led by a three-touchdown performance from freshman Brennan Presley, the Cowboys beat Miami 37-34 in that game. Aside from Presley going nuclear, it might best be remembered by the postgame Cheez-Its. Jomboy made a hilarious video breaking it down.

The Cowboys also went to that bowl when it was called the Camping World Bowl in the 2017 season. It was Mason Rudolph’s final game in an OSU uniform, as he led the Cowboys to a 30-21 win against Virginia Tech.

Speaking of the Hokies, they are one of the teams the Cowboys are projected to play in the bowl. There’s a renewed energy in Blacksburg, with Virginia Tech hiring former Penn State coach James Franklin. The Hokies are 5-2 thus far this season, but their s schedule is somewhat backloaded. They travel to Clemson this week and still have games at No. 23 SMU and at No. 1 Miami.

And speaking of SMU, the Mustangs are the most prominent pick for the Cowboys’ bowl opponent. Now in their third season in the ACC, the Mustangs are 5-1 this season — Rhett Lashlee’s fifth with the program.

The only non-Pop-Tarts Bowl the Cowboys were projected in by these outlets was CBS Sports projecting a Liberty Bowl matchup against Missouri. That’d be a rematch of the 2018 Liberty Bowl, where Taylor Cornelius led the Cowboys to a W against Drew Lock and the Tigers.