Tyler waldrip joins us from the Tulsa World he is Oklahoma State beat writer for that great publication Tyler hello welcome to our show hey how are youall doing oh we're doing good we're going to preview Oklahoma State it looks like on paper they have everything you need outside of maybe a proven defense but they got a lot of guys back on defense it looks like they are primed to have a really good year uh what could keep that from happening um well I think uh this you know probably the same thing that could impact most teams would just be an injury to kind of the guy and for Oklahoma State that's Ali Gordon so I you know A lot's been said about oi um from a football standpoint that I fully expect him to repeat with how successful he's been I've heard some talk of just you know maybe he might wear down with the workload he had last year you know he led the nation in rushing so I do think that's a concern and uh obviously teams are going to stack the box but I kind of think he's gonna be successful even if they do stack the box so I I expect a big season for RI Gordon that said if he were to have an injury there's not a lot of there's almost no proven depth behind him there's a transfer from Indiana who did great for them but still wasn't a Workhorse the same way Ali was so I think that's probably the biggest concern if you're an Oklahoma State fan right now what is it about and you may disagree with this premise but uh I think Mike Gundy is a topic and uh always what is it about him that they he seems to have a trance over still water in that program he said when olly Gordon got arrested well our his punishment is he's going to play more uh basically we're going to give him the ball more and then he said he went out drunk driving a hundred times we've seen some other just crazy opinions nothing ever seems to stick with him I know he wins a lot but he doesn't really win anything uh is he just that valuable to that program that he's Irreplaceable that question comes from my son who can't stand Mike Gundy but go ahead answer it t I didn't say that yeah I mean I would say the especially you know especially around this area the uh just in terms of gundy's influence I mean I think that's that's the influence of the the the modern day in most places football coach there's a couple areas where we you know we could point to basketball coaches that have that same level of influence but um I mean I think if you're a coach and you stick around which is no easy thing these days um but if if you're a coach and and you're there five or six years just by being there that long you're going to accumulate influence and um you know Gundy hasn't Gundy doesn't have the signature wins that we expect of of these sort of household names but I mean this is his 20th season leading Oklahoma state that making it 20 years anywhere uh is is a pretty tall task and I think just the fact that he's survived and made it this long and that Oklahoma state has been successful under him I I think you're just going to accumulate sort of that amount of respect or Prestige or whatever you want to call it just over time almost with Oklahoma going to the SEC how does that affect Oklahoma State um it's it's got to play into it a little bit but what's the feeling there about that um yeah I mean I think uh the interesting thing is that rivalry clearly matters but for Oklahoma State fans I think they're doing their best to um especially where football's concerned move on Oklahoma's you know they're they're not going to play there's not a there's not a reasonable path to seeing those two teams play anytime soon so um I think it's a game people probably wish you know could be on the schedule at some point but um it's not I think the biggest impact it's going to have is you know it'll be interesting to see how recruiting shakes out I personally think Oklahoma state is well position to become a face of the new Big 12 I think Oklahoma's gone Texas has gone uh Oklahoma State in theory on paper should be positioned to win or compete in most of these big 12 championship games coming up the next couple years if they can do that can Oklahoma State's recruiting profile go up nationally I I I don't know I'm really interested to see that that's what I'm interested to write about um and if Oklahoma struggles in the SEC they're in a better conference but like you know do people want to go play for Oklahoma now that they're in the SEC if they're competing to be fifth sixth wherever they are in the SEC so can Oklahoma's recruiting profile take a small dip and I'm really interested to see how that affects things in state and nationally with you know the guys that are going to choose to play for these schools in the next two three years yeah interesting Tyler walri from us from with us from the Tulsa World we're talking Oklahoma State football interesting schedule we always like looking at this stuff uh three non-conference games South Dakota State Arkansas Tulsa and then a home game against Utah a road game against Kansas State many believe those three teams you include Oklahoma state are the three best in the Big 12 that's a that's a really interesting way to start Big 12 play for the Cowboys yeah I mean I and I count me among pretty much everybody I'm looking at Oklahoma State I'm looking at Utah and I'm looking at Kansas State this fall in the Big 12 um yeah you know I might be jumping ahead I think Oklahoma state is is going to be in the Big 12 title game this year but to do that you almost have to go two and0 to to start Big 12 Play you need to beat Utah you need to beat Kansas State because if those are the teams that are going to be in contention you really you really want to have that you know put them down one and have that tiebreaker over them so uh you know huge crucial stretch the opening I I think the opening games are really interesting just I think games Oklahoma State should take care of but you know South Dakota State winning the FCS uh just makes that an interesting game I think going up against Arkansas you know Regional opponent uh a team that needs a win badly I'm I'm interested to see what you know I have to imagine Arkansas in the first three weeks is pulling out all the stops to get some wins early so uh I think the the opening slate is going to be maybe more interesting Than People expect but I still think Oklahoma State should have the talent um to kind of separate itself and at least at least get those wins early and K State and Utah interestingly don't play one another this year so for whatever that's worth yeah yeah I was just going to ask you about uh this offense it's like they've got like ages of NFL veterans not just like NFL young players but seventh year quarterback bunch of sixth year guys on the line how how much is that an advantage for Oklahoma State just having guys that have seen everything I I think that and this is true of uh several positions the biggest thing is the the offensive line uh I mean I think there's there are seven guys that started multiple games last season and if I remember correctly I think all of those guys might be Fife seniors or might be fifth year players or older um there's a there's a really good chance that whoever Oklahoma State's offensive lineman is is at worst a a four or fivey year guy this season even even with a couple injuries even if they need to sub in some guys that maybe you know were not expecting to be the starters at the beginning of the season so I think that's probably the biggest thing um is just experienced offensive lineman a quarterback that's you know I feel like as you know been in college football forever in alen Bowman um I I think it's I think it's huge I think the biggest thing that we've heard throughout the offseason is spring was more productive fall is more productive because we're not wasting any time to we're not starting over the the freshman and and Gundy was pretty honest about this the other day the Freshman it's kind of on those guys they're going to need to figure out a way to make up time because we're not starting at the normal start place for this team so many guys are back so many guys have been here forever we're starting at you know they're starting at like practice three or practice five um and you know so if Oklahoma State can capitalize on that you know hopefully start this season a little bit closer to game two or game three just in terms of execution and maybe guys don't make the dumb penalties that sometimes you see freshman make because they get confused or flustered I think it could be huge um that the experience is a big reason I think Oklahoma state will have a special season this year what do you think about obviously the new Big 12 with the 16 teams and the teams coming in and all the teams moving and the different conferences how do you see it all uh turning out we talked earlier in the show about you know Utah I think is ranked 13th in the coaches pole and that's the highest Big 12 team do you see that as being the trend that will stay throughout the year uh in terms of Utah being the highest or just the Big's best team just just with the SEC and Big 10 and and is that just going to be where everybody's going to be talking about um yeah I think and uh you know uh people around here they they may they may hate hearing this um but you know when whenever uh the Big 12 commissioner has has spoken he's he's been pretty clear we feel we're a you know the Big 12 is one of the top three conferences uh in none of the interviews I've seen has he you know made any statements on the Big 12 being the best conference I don't think it's the best conference right now um so I do think especially early on all the attention is going to go to the Big 10 I think it's going to go to the SEC and I think whether you like what those conferences have done or not they kind of deserve the attention I mean just look at you know the Big 10 has Ohio State Michigan Penn State Oregon Washington like and other teams like I'm excited to see how that conference shakes out I'm excited to see how the SEC shakes out Texas and Alabama and Georgia um and LSU like I think those conferences are interesting because of you know just the sheer number of like high-profile programs they have I think that big 12 is clearly third in that list and but I think the thing the Big 12 does have going for it is Oklahoma and Texas are gone so on one hand you can go oh we lost sort of the faces of the conference on the other hand like anyone in the conference right now if they can get their act together can say what it can can we become Oklahoma and Texas and if any of these teams I think can win consistently over the next three or four years I think they're just going to get vaulted into that top level I think recruits will get funnel towards those programs I think money will get funnel towards those programs because they'll be winning the Big 12 they'll be going to the playoff every year and if you do that enough years in a row you know you can build a like look what davo swey did with close basically at the start of the playoff era I think there's one there's at least one or two spots in the Big 12 if anyone can claim those spots you can basically say we're gonna Vault into the national consciences the same way Clemson did and I think that's exciting I think that's exciting for these teams I think it's exciting for the Big 12 and I also think you know as as much as I I kind of think it's going to be Utah Kansas State Oklahoma state if you told me you could name five other teams in the conference and if you said you know they're going to be there I wouldn't be completely stunned I think it is a competitive league so I'm really interested to see how the league goes this year but three years out I think that's when we're going to kind of see you know how excited are people with these conferences and and that's to me is is a lot more interesting than talking about it just in terms of this year D thank you so much we appreciate your time talking Oklahoma State football Big 12 we're excited for the season to begin I'm sure you are as well we appreciate it thank you awesome thank you all so much have a great day trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again with North sides and bullion as your notsu secret ingredient you can skip the drive-thru and do dinner at home nor taste combos provide a menu of delicious affordable and well balanced meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less visit n.com to get quick and easy recipes ideas for your home-cooked weeknight dinners it's not fast food but it's so good everybody knows it Toyota trucks are the stuff of Legends rugged adorable Everlasting Toyota makes trucks that just don't quit and now Toyota is driving that Legacy toward the future with two of their most powerful trucks ever the new tundra and the all-new Tacoma in a half ton Tundra you can rule the roads from the comfort of a spacious cabin with connected Tech and plenty of hauling power the tundra is ready to work hard and play even harder or check out the allnew 24 Tacoma redesigned and electrified to maximize your adventure with a bevy of available off-road driving and power transfer modes you will effortlessly crush the conditions and with the Tacoma's reimagined interior you'll do it in style and right now your local Toyota dealer has more vehicles in stock and is making delivery on new vehicles almost every day so don't wait buy a tundra or Tacoma to today visit biot toyota.com for deals and more Toyota Let's Go Places