Ranking the Toughest Games for Oklahoma State Football in 2019

Oklahoma State’s 2019 football schedule is out. It features two (✌) bye weeks, a season-opener on a Friday night (??), a season finale against OU (?), and road trips to Ames and Morgantown (?).

It is not your average schedule.

As I sat down to look it over, I tried to sift out the easiest and toughest tests for OSU looking ahead to 2019. Then I put it on paper. Here’s what I came up with, from 1-12, ranking the toughest games of 2019.

1. Oklahoma | Nov. 30

It’s not crazy to think that OU, this time next year, will have its fourth consecutive Big 12 title in hand and more five-star recruits on its roster than OSU has signed in program history. Even if Kyler Murray joins the MLB, as expected, future franchise QB Spencer Rattler is the truth. And Lincoln Riley is brilliant. And … lawd, this is going to be a tough game in Stillwater to close the season.

2. at Texas | Sept. 21

I guess Tom Herman’s going to keep his job?

If that’s the case, then I suspect Texas will be a conference title contender again in 2019. Sam Ehlinger (pronounced Ehlingurrrr), is a year older, Texas’ defense has dudes, and they will continue to rake in elite talent. Especially if their season ends in a Big 12 title game. Even if Austin isn’t the toughest venue on the schedule, this will be a tough game.

3. at Iowa State | Oct. 26

Brock Purdy: Back. Matt Campbell: Probably (?) back. Ames: An animal. My palms are sweating thinking about this game.

4. at West Virginia | Nov. 23

Will Grier will be cashing NFL checks this time next year, but Red Bull-slinging crazy Dana will have a tough team. And he has a tough environment to welcome OSU into. This could be a lowkey trap game for OSU, which should be coming off a Kansas win the week before. Will the Pokes get caught looking ahead to Bedlam on Nov. 30?

5. at Texas Tech | Oct. 5

OSU’s dominated Texas Tech under Mike Gundy, but Alan Bowman and the Red Raiders randomly destroyed OSU in Stillwater this season. Suddenly, a trip to Lubbock in 2019, tortillas flying, seems kinda daunting.

6. TCU | Nov. 2

TCU’s defense is probably going to be great, KaVontae Turpin will be back for his 12th season (psych, he’s finally a senior), and Gary Patterson always has something up his sleeve. Last time the Horned Frogs came to Stillwater, they stunned OSU. This will be no cakewalk, even if TCU’s offense is probably still going to be middling.

7. Kansas State | Sept. 28

I’m not going to be a prisoner of the moment and put K-State higher than it deserves, despite last week’s troubling result. The Wildcats’ talent is among the worst in the conference, and the program has dipped significantly.

8. Baylor | Oct. 19

I don’t really know what to do with Baylor. They have more talent than Kansas State (and Tech, for that matter), but I don’t know if they’re going to be a doormat next season or a surprise breakout team. Head says somewhere in between, heart says down towards the bottom. I’m putting them at 8. This should be a W.

9. at Tulsa | Sept. 14

TU probably deserves a little more credit than its getting — it nearly beat Texas! — but thus far the Golden Hurricane have been the punching bag of the American in 2018. Not sure that changes next year. They won two games in 2017 and may struggle to top that output in 2018.

10. McNeese State | Sept. 7

FCS level aside, McNeese State isn’t terrible. The Cowboys went 9-2 last season, and are 5-1 to this point in 2018. Being a lower level college football program in Louisiana, they get a lot of talent in Louisiana that’s been overlooked by LSU and Tulane.

11. at Oregon State | Aug. 30

Playing a Power 5 foe to open the season is great, but playing Oregon State, the Kansas Football of the Pac-12, isn’t exactly a big challenge. The Beavers haven’t had a winning season since 2013, when they finished 7-6. Since then, they’ve won 5, 2, 4 and 1 games in each subsequent season. They are 1-5 in 2018.

12. Kansas | Nov. 16

Oregon State has been atrocious, and yet somehow, Kansas has been worse of late. The Jayhawks, since 2015, have won a combined five games. We’ll almost certainly be looking at the KU football program under a new head coach in 2019, I’d think.