Mike Gundy’s new perpetually renewing contract at Oklahoma State is just another reminder that cancel culture does not exist, and especially does not exist for mediocre rich white men like Gundy.
It’s true that Gundy’s 143 wins are the most in Oklahoma State history. So are his 67 losses, because he’s been there for 17 years.
The Cowboys are currently ranked No. 8 in the AP poll, the eighth season during Gundy’s tenure that they’ve appeared in the top 10 at some point. Only once during his reign has OSU actually finished in the top 10. They’re 10-5 in bowl games under Gundy, but since losing the 2015 Sugar Bowl, their last five bowl appearances have been in the Alamo, Camping World, Liberty, Texas, and Cheez-It.
Clearly, that’s a leader you want to have around forever, and nothing bad will happen on Saturday afternoon when 6-0 Oklahoma State visits preseason No. 7 Iowa State, a 13-point winner on the road last week against a Kansas State team that Oklahoma State beat at home by 11 in September. Also, there are still trips ahead to pesky West Virginia and explosive Texas Tech before the annual Bedlam loss to Oklahoma.
Does anyone really believe that Oklahoma State is one of the top 10 teams in the country, or on the way to remaining in the top 10 in this weird college football season? Maybe the Oklahoma State administration does, but they’re also the ones who have been fine for 17 years with Gundy generally keeping the program just shy of the big time, and now want to sign up for that forever.
Follow the logic
UNLV’s collapse against San Jose State on Thursday meant that Arizona would not be left alone as the only winless team in FBS, but the Wildcats went ahead and proved on Friday that misery loves company, refusing to leave the Runnin’ Rebels behind as college football’s biggest zeroes.
Boasting an 89.4% win probability with a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, after having led by 13 at the half, Arizona quarterback Will Plummer threw an interception that started Washington on its way to a comeback and 21-16 verdict in Tucson.
Arizona still does have a decent shot at a win in a couple of weeks when Cal visits the desert, but that doesn’t soothe being 0-7, after being 0-5 last year, and closing 2019 on a seven-game losing streak that started with a 17-13 halftime lead against Washington turning into a 51-27 blowout loss.
Meanwhile, non-winless UConn got back to its losing ways with a 44-13 defeat by Middle Tennessee, so scratch that notion that the Huskies will go to Clemson in November as college football’s hottest team.
Shoutout to Middle Tennessee, though, as they beat UConn by 31, and UConn beat Yale, and Yale beat Cornell, and Cornell beat VMI, and VMI beat Mercer, and Mercer only lost to Alabama by 34, which means that Middle Tennessee is basically as good as Alabama — which faces, and figures to be much better than, regular Tennessee on Saturday night.
No one panic (Not applicable in Canada)
When I said that the Maple Leafs would disappoint people this season, I thought that it would be about their performance in the spring, not the fall, but here we are, five games into the season, and the Leafs have lost three of them, including 5-3 to the Sharks on Friday night.
The Sharks are surprisingly undefeated, but surprising undefeated starts from bad teams are supposed to end when they play games three time zones from home, and in another country, against superior opposition.
Michael Hutchinson giving up four goals on 30 shots is not a good sign for Toronto’s ability to get things done when Jack Campbell is in net. Petr Mrazek surrendered three goals on 26 shots in his Toronto debut and immediately went on the shelf with a groin injury, and while Campbell has a .953 save percentage in the early going, he can’t play every game.
The Leafs now head to Pittsburgh for a game on Saturday night that Campbell would figure to start, and maybe that’s the start of things getting right for Toronto, but they also haven’t won in the United States since February 27, 2020 at Florida. The Leafs also haven’t won in Pittsburgh since November 3, 2018.
Should be a great, stress-free, totally measured Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.