Mike Gundy has a Talladega Nights-Like Outlook on the Big 12 Title Race

The great Ricky Bobby once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” It’s a mantra Mike Gundy has adopted and applied to his own outlook on the Big 12 title race.

Speaking with reporters on Monday, Gundy acknowledged that OSU’s goal this year and every year is to win the conference. But in not doing so — whether it’s finishing second or last — there’s “no second-place medals,” he says.

“I’m not disappointed with anybody in this organization,” said Gundy on the Big 12 teleconference. “Every year our goal is to win a Big 12 championship. If you win a Big 12 championship, you win first place. If you get second or 10th, you get last place. There are no second-place medals. We’re all trying to get to the championship game and then try to win it.”

Put more succinctly, Gundy said this:

Gundy’s comments came in what was a rather strange interaction with the great Tulsa World columnist Guerin Emig. Here is their back-and-forth below.

Gundy: “If you have a good run and get there, then your next two years you have a losing record, is that productive? I’m asking you.”

Emig: “The year you have a losing record?”

Gundy: “Well if you get to that game, then the next two seasons you have a losing record.”

Emig: “Are you asking me which is productive: the losing record season or the [inaudible]?”

Gundy: “What would you rather have if you’re the coach? Would you rather have one good year and get there, then next two years have a losing record?”

Emig: “I would rather have consistency in the program, which is what you’re getting at I assume.”

Gundy: “That’s what I’m getting at.”

Emig: “Yeah. But you’d also rather get to that game, would you not?”

Gundy: “I’ve said that from day one…”

So yeah.

And Gundy wasn’t done, either.

“The point being is this: if you get to the Big 12 championship it’s a good thing. If you don’t win it, it’s the same as the other eight teams.”

He said all that which can be deduced that, in his view, Kansas going winless in conference play is effectively the same as whoever finishes runner-up in the Big 12 title game, which is … a take.

Now, that’s obviously not true — and clearly Gundy doesn’t see it that way (I don’t think). His point was a bigger one on sustained consistency, and that OSU winning eight games last year and seven games the year prior is better than, say, getting to the title game one year and then falling off a cliff.

There’s certainly an argument to be had there. Would you take one dream season and a rebuilding year and trade it in for two consistent, average seasons? Not sure I would want to choose, but obviously the one where you put yourself in position to win the league is the preferred path.

But as a man who makes several million dollars a year, it’s not great optics to lay it out there as if it’s an either/or situation. Fans and boosters alike expect and hope for the best product year in and year out — they pay lots for it, too! — so the timing here arguing for the value of being consistently good but maybe not great is odd, especially given OSU’s late-season struggle to the finish line. But does it matter? No matter where OSU finishes in the final standings after the season finale on Saturday, it won’t be first this year. In Gundy’s eyes, that may as well be last.