Ranking the games on Oklahoma State's 2023 football schedule from easiest to hardest

STILLWATER — As weird as it will be to see the Oklahoma State football team go through an entire season without facing Texas, Texas Tech, TCU or Baylor, it’s also quite a gift the Big 12 Conference granted the Cowboys. Early projections expect those four teams to be in the top half of the 14-team league in 2023, thus leaving the OSU schedule heavy on teams from the bottom half. In need of a bounce-back from last year’s ugly finish that resulted in a 7-6 record, the Pokes couldn’t have drawn up the schedule much better if they’d done it themselves. Even though it includes five long road trips — Houston is the closest road destination at just a hair over 500 miles from Stillwater — the schedule still appears to be one of the easiest in the Big 12. But that’s irrelevant if the Cowboys don’t handle their business. Here’s a look at the Cowboys’ schedule, ranking the games from easiest to toughest. No. 12: Central Arkansas, 6 p.m., Sept. 2, ESPN+ The Division I FCS program was 5-6 last year and had a 59-3 loss to Ole Miss in the Bears’ only game against an FBS program. This will be a good warmup before OSU goes on the road to face Arizona State the following week. No. 11: at West Virginia, Oct. 21 Last year’s Thanksgiving weekend disaster is likely still fresh in the minds of some. But OSU has won its last four trips to Morgantown, even in difficult situations. And this is the lone road trip in a six-week span in the middle of the schedule. No. 10: at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m., Sept. 9, FS1 This one is a bit of a wildcard. Kenny Dillingham is the Sun Devils’ new coach. How quickly can he rebuild the roster to a competitive Power Five level? He got off to a good start, bringing in former Notre Dame starting quarterback Drew Pyne, but it’s hard to know what kind of team the Sun Devils will be in the second week of September. More: Oklahoma State football to add Terry Miller to Ring of Honor on Oct. 14 vs. Kansas No. 9: at Houston, Nov. 18 Former Cowboy offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen just can’t stay out of the Big 12. For the second time in his head coaching career, he finds himself leading a team that has joined the conference in the middle of his tenure. This time, he’s bringing a Houston squad that has some rebuilding to do to get back to the level it was at last season. No. 8: Cincinnati, Oct. 28 Another team on the schedule going through a coaching change, the Bearcats replaced Luke Fickell with Scott Satterfield, who had significant success at Appalachian State and Louisville over the past decade. He takes over a Cincinnati program that is facing the usual turnover that comes with coaching changes these days. This will be homecoming weekend at OSU, and the Pokes usually play well in front of the excited homecoming crowd. No. 7: South Alabama, 6 p.m., Sept. 16, ESPN+ This wasn’t quite as scary in 2010 when OSU put South Alabama on the schedule, two years before the program played its first game. But the Jaguars are a program on the rise under 36-year-old coach Kane Wommack, entering his third season. The Jags were 10-3 last year, the program’s first-ever season of more than six wins. No. 6: BYU, Nov. 25 Ironically, BYU will play its first season in a Power Five conference with a quarterback who will be playing in his third Power Five conference. Kedon Slovis began his career at USC and played last season at Pittsburgh. Slovis will be the Cougars’ third quarterback in as many seasons, but the program rolls along, having won 29 games over the previous three years. More: Which players are committed to Oklahoma State football in the 2024 recruiting class? No. 5: at Central Florida, Nov. 11 While BYU might be the best team among the four newcomers to the Big 12, this feels like the tougher game for OSU, going on the road to Orlando the week after Bedlam. The only time in the last six seasons that UCF fell short of nine wins was the COVID-shortened 2020 season. No. 4: Kansas, Oct. 14 Is this a sign of Kansas’ rise or a sign of the lacking strength in OSU’s schedule? Maybe a bit of both. From 2010-21, Kansas never won more than three games in a season but went 6-7 last fall with a combination of Jalon Daniels and Jason Bean at quarterback. And the Jayhawks handled OSU in Lawrence when the Cowboys were still in the early stages of their collapse. No. 3: at Iowa State, Sept. 23 While they need to show they can bounce back from last year’s dropoff, the Cyclones are always tough at home, especially when the Cowboys come to town. The last four meetings in Ames have been decided by a touchdown or less. Iowa State was 4-8 last year, but there’s no reason to expect coach Matt Campbell won’t have his team back to a more competitive level. No. 2: Kansas State, 6:30 p.m., Oct. 6, ESPN The reigning Big 12 champion comes to Stillwater for a Friday night showdown. Both programs will be coming off an open week, and the Pokes will surely be motivated to erase the memory of last year’s 48-0 beatdown in Manhattan, Kansas, that kickstarted the Cowboys’ late-season debacle. No. 1: OU, Nov. 4 Yes, OU was 6-7 last year. But the last Bedlam — at least for the foreseeable future — is clearly the toughest game on the Cowboys’ schedule. They get it at Boone Pickens Stadium, which helps, but the excitement and anticipation for this game will be massive, especially if the two teams make it to the first week of November in the hunt for a spot in the Big 12 title game.