Daily Bullets (January 30)

Championship Head Hunting

Before yesterday’s big hiring news, Ian Boyd of Football Study Hall had a great thought on how important this defensive coordinator hire will be in Stillwater.

…Oklahoma State is definitely one of the more likely teams to win a national championship without hitting the blue-chip ratio. Now that they’ve locked up Mike Gundy on a long-term deal and probably ensured that he retires as the King of Stillwater, much like Bill Snyder in Manhattan, he has the time to work out the missing variables to his formula in pursuit of a title.

The big one is a defensive strategy that can ensure that they are in striking distance in years when the offense is elite. This is a big hire coming up for OSU. [Concerning Sports]

Capitalizing on the offensive brilliance of Gundy-led, Fedora/Holgorsen/Monken/Yucich/*crosses fingers* Stitt-coached teams with just adequate defenses is of first importance in this golden age of Cowboy Football. We’ll see how Jim Knowles does!

Two Truths and No Lies

Saturday in the Ozarks exemplified the dichotomy that is Cowboy Basketball – unexpectedly high and a thrilling low.

Mitchell Solomon bounced a pass to Jeffrey Carroll under the basket — but Carroll couldn’t finish the contested lay-in.

Solomon crashed the glass and got his hands on the basketball for a tip-in — but watched it roll off the right side of the rims and into the hands of Arkansas’ Trey Thompson, who hugged it tight as Oklahoma State fouled him, the Razorbacks’ 66-65 victory nearly secure.

Saturday’s game was both one Oklahoma State had no business being in and one the Cowboys had every right to win. [TulsaWorld]

While the fat lady hasn’t sang, the early conclusion is that the Pokes have no business being in tournament conversations but have every right to be there.

OSU and NCAA Notes

Clip referenced above but this piece on Big 12 defenses by Ian Boyd is fantastic….A first look at bracketology from SB Nation (from last Friday but still good)….Porter grades former Cowboy golfers Rickie Fowler and Alex Noren….How former Cowboy Zach Allen went from long snapper to NEO head coach….What New York Giants fans think of Marcel Ateman

Bummed that OSU didn’t hire the Chief for DC.

We might have lost to Baker Mayfield earlier this year, but there’s one team that we’ve been a fan of since last March that’s undefeated. S/o to @fyvpolice for keeping it real!

A post shared by Winston Watkins (@winnywatkins24) on Jan 28, 2018 at 8:47am PST

Different will be fun.

Gundy continues to pave his own path on hiring coaches, dipping into the lower ranks for coaches. This go around the road is a little tougher considering focus is on defense. Should be fun to see some changes.

— Adam Lunt (@AdamLunt817) January 29, 2018

A must-win at GIA tonight.

The Cowboys host TCU Tuesday night in GIA. What happened the last time these two schools met? You guessed it … @j3vans1_ went off. #letswork #okstate

? https://t.co/JeOOvHgAiY pic.twitter.com/8GBrpyaMOg

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) January 30, 2018

Cowgirl Soccer has it going on.

Rodriguez Helps Lead Mexico To CONCACAF Title https://t.co/qUyagOXyLO

— Oklahoma State (@OSUAthletics) January 29, 2018

What You Missed on PFB

• Gundy made some hires yesterday – one big one
• Ateman snagged a TD in his only catch at the Senior Bowl
• Can OSU make it to the Big Dance this year?
• A closer look at OSU’s road woes in the second half
• OSU hosted dozens on a big recruiting weekend

Other Stuff I’m Reading

• This was fun – how Rivals rated Super Bowlers as high school recruits
• Flew threw this series this month (on audio) – a bit violent but super entertaining
• Seven thoughts on the Billy Graham/Mike Pence from a Christian perspective