Mike Boynton’s First Year as Head Coach Marked by Remarkable Wins Against Ranked Teams

It has been a remarkable first season in so many ways for Mike Boynton as the captain of Oklahoma State’s ship. The Pokes have pulled off wins at Kansas, at West Virginia and against OU and Texas Tech at home. They have five wins against top 25 teams and a school record three wins against top 10 teams.

But how does that compare to other coaches in their first years at the helm in Stillwater? Well, I’m glad you asked because the results are pretty interesting.

I thought we should break this into three general sections. First, the post-Iba era because that’s when OSU started playing top 25 teams. When Iba took over in the mid-30s, the AP poll didn’t even exist.

Up next is the Sutton era. And then the recent era that includes Travis Ford, Brad Underwood and Boynton. Let’s take a look.

Sam Aubrey, 1970-71: 0-2
Guy Strong, 1973-74: 0-2
Jim Killingsworth, 1977-78: 0-2
Paul Hansen, 1979-80: 0-3
Leonard Hamilton, 1986-87: 0-5

Eddie Sutton, 1990-91: 2-2
Sean Sutton, 2006-07: 4-4

TravisFord, 2008-09: 2-8
Brad Underwood, 2016-17: 1-9
Mike Boynton, 2017-18: 5-5 (with 3 regular-season games to go)

That is remarkable. Here’s another way to look at it.

Mike Boynton: 5-5
The nine coaches who aren’t Mike Boynton: 9-37 (the real argument here against Boynton is that Sean Sutton record — OSU beat Syracuse, Pitt, Texas and A&M that year)

It gets crazier. Coming into this year, OSU traditionally has had terrible records against both top 25 and top 10 opponents (as I expect most teams have). This year, they’ve been mostly lights out.

2018

Against top 25: 5-5 (.500)
Against top 10: 3-3 (.500)

All years except 2018

Against top 25: 116-237 (.329)
Against top 10: 49-119 (.291)

There will be more opportunities. OSU will at the very least face a Kansas team next Saturday that will be ranked in the top 25, and if they win a game at the Big 12 Tournament, they’ll likely see another top 25 team in Round 2 of that event.

“We kind of hit the reset button after Saturday(‘s loss to TCU),” Boynton said after OSU beat No. 6 Texas Tech on Wednesday. “I told them I was a little concerned whether the sun was going to come up on Sunday morning, but once it did I put in my mind I was going to try to encourage them to focus on this one.

“You can’t win four without winning three … you can’t win three without winning two … and you can’t win two unless you win this one. We got this one, and we look forward to getting ready for Saturday.”