#19 Oklahoma State Cowboys: College Football 77 in 77 - The Sports Bank

Welcome to The Sports Bank 77 in 77. We’re previewing one team a day everyday as the college football season approaches. And we’re doing it in rapid fire sequence. Today, the Oklahoma State Cowboys

2011 was: a banner year in school history. However, they fell just shy of the BCS title game. Their defense was okay, but overall their offense was phenomenal. The ‘Boys lost the big game at Iowa State, and that was enough to ruin the title hopes. Sorry T. Boone Pickens, but last year was your year, and it still didn’t happen. With no Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden, no hope to be that big of a national power this season.

2012 will go smoothly if:  the new signal caller lives up to the hype; and the Cowboys can find a new wide receiver to get into the groove big  The running game should be deep, but not exceptional, and there’s talent, and a strong recruiting class. But this year is a reload

2012 will be rough if: the offense is where all the questions marks are. The defense should be solid ESPECIALLY the linebackers, and they may have to force turnovers and score to bail out the offense at times. The corners are lockdown, so there shouldn’t be any issues there.

BMOC: DT Calvin Barnett, RB Joseph Randle

 All Name team: SS Lavocheya Cooper, FS Daytawion Lowe, DT Christian Littlehead

Bottom Line: 7-9 wins looks likely. They might be deserving of more, but it all depends on if they stay healthy at the positions where they have little depth and the QB play. There’s going to be a step down from last year, it’s inevitable. How much? depends on how well Ok St. continues to keep pace in the passing game in the pass happy Big 12.

All the 77s

#20 Ohio State

#21 Texas

#22 Texas A&M

#23 Michigan State

#24 Louisville

#25 Stanford

#26 Auburn

#27 Kansas St.

#28 Utah

#29 Missouri

#30 Georgia Tech

#31 Virginia

#32 Notre Dame

#33 NC State

#34 Iowa

#35 BYU

#36 UCF

#37 Washington

#38 Tennessee

#39 Rutgers

#40 Penn State

#41 Baylor

#42 Texas Tech

#43 Pittsburgh

#44 Cincinnati

#45 Mississippi State

#46 North Carolina

#47 Northwestern

#48 Miami, FL

#49 California

#50 SMU

#51 South Florida

#52 UConn

#53 UCLA

#54 Illinois

#55 Vanderbilt

#56 Washington St.

#57 Wake Forest

#58 Ole Miss

#59 Purdue

#60 Iowa St

#61 Kentucky

#62 Arizona State

#63 Boston College

#64 Ohio

#65 Marshall

#66 Arizona

#67 Southern Miss

#68 Tulsa

#69 Oregon State

#70 Houston

#71 Syracuse

#72 Colorado

#73 Kansas

#74 Maryland

#75 Duke

#76 Minnesota

#77 Indiana

Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Chicago Tribune.com, Fox Sports, Walter Football and Yardbarker

A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too