Pac-12 declines to pursue expansion
Gundy focused on team, not league realignment
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy was sitting high in the Boone Pickens Stadium seats, watching an intrasquad scrimmage last Sunday night when he sensed some other people sitting down nearby.
It was new OSU president Kayse Shrum and her husband, Darren. Before long, Shrum moved down next to Gundy.
“She comes over and sits a chair away from me for the next hour-and-a-half, watches the scrimmage and talks foot
ball, talks conference realignment and whatever,” Gundy said. “Pretty cool, huh? That’s pretty awesome.
“So we’ve had enough discussions (on conference realignment) that if there’s anything concrete, she’ll let me know.”
About an hour after Gundy told that story early Thursday afternoon, the Pac-12 Conference announced that it does not plan to pursue expansion at this time. So maybe Gundy got a call from Shrum about the conference realignment news of the day from the West Coast.
“The decision was made following extensive internal discussion and analysis, and is based on the current competitive strength and cohesiveness of our 12 universities,” the Pac-12 said in a statement. “It is also grounded in our confidence in our ability as a conference to best support our student-athletes and to grow and thrive both academically and athletically.”
As devastating as the statement might feel, in terms of OSU’s potential future, Gundy has more pressing matters at hand.
And he can afford to let OSU’s new but strong and energetic leadership — Shrum and athletic director Chad Weiberg, each in their second month on the job — work on fortifying OSU’s fate in conference realignment.
Gundy and the Cowboys, of course, are just over a week away from their season opener, a 6 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 4 at Boone Pickens Stadium against Missouri State.
After a predictably smooth preseason camp led by several veteran returning starters, Gundy’s confidence is high in his team.
“I like where we’re at,” Gundy said. “I like their effort. I think we’re a good team as it relates to special teams. I like our team. We’ll see. It’s just really hard to predict until you’ve been in it a month and you kinda know where you’re at.
“Hopefully, once we’ve been in it a month, we’re healthy. We don’t have a crisis at any particular position. But I like where we’re at.”
Some of Gundy’s confidence comes from the wealth of experience his team has. The defense will have nine seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup, most of whom have been on campus for all of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ previous three seasons.
On offense, Gundy finds comfort in what he expects to be improved quarterback play of Spencer Sanders and a deeper, more talented offensive line.
“(Sanders) seems to be improving each year, seems to be improving each day,” Gundy said.
“The supporting cast around him needs to do their part, because we all know that he and I are gonna get too much credit and people are gonna be too critical of us. He understands that, and the team and the supporting cast around him need to play really well and put him in a position to have success.”