Oklahoma State - the breakthrough win?

[slickdawg]

If we beat Oklahoma State - the 13th ranked team in the nation and a 14 point favorite, would that qualify as Mullen's signature / breakthrough victory?

[TheRef]

I would certainly count that as a breakthrough victory.

[AlaDawg]

It would absolutely be a breakthrough win for Mullen. The media has completely forgotten MSU and Mullen this year with all the hype surrounding the other school in MS. A victory over OSU would put Mullen's career and what he is doing at MSU back in the forefront of World Wide Leader and would only help that much more in our coverage throughout the year.

[aerodawg]

It should. But then the party line will be "Breakthrough signature SEC win like Bama."

[bluelightstar]

Absolutely, it will be. Regardless of how Oklahoma State finishes, if we beat them, it will allay a lot of the fears that many of the fans have about Mullen.

[BhamDawg]

For the national media it will be. For the local/SEC media, it will be "good job, BUT you still can't beat the top SEC teams"

IMO, it will be huge, Mullen's best win to date.

[archdog]

I would say its a great signature win, but we need to follow it up with wins over Auburn and LSU to validate it.

[blacklistedbully]

They will say how overrated Ok State was. There will then be a national dialogue about how preseason expectations can be so iffy. That, or they'll talk about the unfair challenge great teams face when they play a mediocre team in the first game of a season. How it was a huge, unfair advantage for MSU to get to play OSU in the first game, "before they were ready", or some such nonsense.

Rather than give MSU credit, they will instead view it as OSU struggling, or not being very good after all. Then, for icing on the cake, Ole Miss will pick up a few votes in the polls for our win.

[TheRef]

They will say how overrated Ok State was. There will then be a national dialogue about how preseason expectations can be so iffy. That, or they'll talk about the unfair challenge great teams face when they play a mediocre team in the first game of a season. How it was a huge, unfair advantage for MSU to get to play OSU in the first game, "before they were ready", or some such nonsense.

Rather than give MSU credit, they will instead view it as OSU struggling, or not being very good after all. Then, for icing on the cake, Ole Miss will pick up a few votes in the polls for our win.

The prophesy......

[HancockCountyDog]

If we beat Oklahoma State - the 13th ranked team in the nation and a 14 point favorite, would that qualify as Mullen's signature / breakthrough victory?

I think what it will do is get everyone back on board. CDM lost a few fans last season, and I personally thought our fan base was as united as I have ever seen it headed into the Bama game. The 2011 season and the 2012 finish along with the perception of the bears getting great recruits this past February has caused a few lunatics to jump ship. I think we will be back united after we kick the shit out of the pokes.

I really think we win this game. Im not sure people understand our talent level 1-85; They will understand it by about 6:00 on Saturday.

[TaleofTwoDogs]

Yes. Hopefully, the first of many yet to come.

[Bear]

Yes! Beating OSU would be great for the program to give us that confidence to be a top SEC team this year!

[camsu]

It will be a strong win and great for the program, however, I think in the next 4 yrs we need to have a yr where we beat all the SEC schools except one that yr and that cannot be OM. We need ever so often that huge season and I think CDM needs that in the next 4 yrs with strong seasons leading into and after that.

[Dawgface]

Yes, but if OSU goes on to have a disappointing season then no.

[Political Hack]

They will say how overrated Ok State was. There will then be a national dialogue about how preseason expectations can be so iffy. That, or they'll talk about the unfair challenge great teams face when they play a mediocre team in the first game of a season. How it was a huge, unfair advantage for MSU to get to play OSU in the first game, "before they were ready", or some such nonsense.

Rather than give MSU credit, they will instead view it as OSU struggling, or not being very good after all. Then, for icing on the cake, Ole Miss will pick up a few votes in the polls for our win.

should we be fortunate enough to worry about this, this is exactly what will happen. I've said it until I'm blue in the face. a "win" will disappear into thin air a few games into the season. it's a no-win, lose type of game for us and other than the payout there's little to no advantage to us playing this game.

I will never in a million years understand why we put a probable loss on our schedule just for a payday.

[HancockCountyDog]

I will never in a million years understand why we put a probable loss on our schedule just for a payday.

Why do you keep saying probably loss?

Its hard to say they are more talented then we are. Why do you think we lose?

[fishwater99]

It would be his first win vs a Top 20 team, he would improve to 3-16 vs the Top 25.

So Hell yeah it would be a HUGE win...

[Political Hack]

Why do you keep saying probably loss?

Its hard to say they are more talented then we are. Why do you think we lose?

we're 13 point underdogs. That would be a bigger upset than ULaLa beating UPig. again, it's week one so there's no telling how it plays out and I pray I'm wrong, but this could crush the entire season if things go badly. And even if we win it doesn't do much for us IMO.

If we win or lose our measuring stick this season will be how we fare down the stretch in SEC play. Period. A win in this game is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It's immediately negated with a loss to LSU or Bama or A&M. And a win over any of them is more of a statement than a win over Okie State. We've got Goliath on our schedule already.

Just an opinion... I think it was a terrible move for this season.

[Todd4State]

should we be fortunate enough to worry about this, this is exactly what will happen. I've said it until I'm blue in the face. a "win" will disappear into thin air a few games into the season. it's a no-win, lose type of game for us and other than the payout there's little to no advantage to us playing this game.

I will never in a million years understand why we put a probable loss on our schedule just for a payday.

They'll use the AD party line of "exposure". There's a bunch of high school kids in Minnesota that will be watching this game.

[smootness]

It should. But then the party line will be "Breakthrough signature SEC win like Bama."

Bingo. Kind of like the way last year, before the season it was, 'Mullen can't beat any SEC West team that isn't Ole Miss'; then, after we beat Auburn and Arkansas, it was 'They were down, the fact still remains, he can't beat any good SEC West team'.

They will all say, 'LOL! It's the Big 12! They won 8 games last year! That's his huge breakthrough?!?! LOLOLOLOLOL!'

[smootness]

we're 13 point underdogs. That would be a bigger upset than ULaLa beating UPig. again, it's week one so there's no telling how it plays out and I pray I'm wrong, but this could crush the entire season if things go badly. And even if we win it doesn't do much for us IMO.

If we win or lose our measuring stick this season will be how we fare down the stretch in SEC play. Period. A win in this game is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It's immediately negated with a loss to LSU or Bama or A&M. And a win over any of them is more of a statement than a win over Okie State. We've got Goliath on our schedule already.

Just an opinion... I think it was a terrible move for this season.

I totally disagree with this. You're playing right into everyone's hands. It would be a huge win, just as Ole Miss beating Texas would be big for them. We're not winning the SEC this year, I can pretty much assure you. So in no way would a win over OSU be negated with a loss to Bama. That's asinine. Of course beating Bama or LSU would be bigger than OSU; that is not at all the same as 'meaningless'.

If you don't think wins over nationally known and ranked opponents on national tv are good for the program, I'm not sure what to tell you. But I can't stand the thought process of, 'Let's not play any hard games. Think of the potential negatives!'

Well, I'm thinking of the potential positives, and they are very good.

[Political Hack]

I would've rather had this game next year and USM this year. It fits the schedule better. This game could cost us a consecutive bowl streak, could crush any early season momentum we could've otherwise mustered, could immediately discount us in the eyes of the press on the national stage, could hurt the SEC's image, etc...

A win is great for our fan base. It means NOTHING nationally except that "Okie State isn't as good as we thought." They have the spotlight of this game. Not us. Don't fool yourself into thinking its the other way around.

[smootness]

They have the spotlight of this game. Not us. Don't fool yourself into thinking its the other way around.

But it doesn't matter why the spotlight is on the game; the bottom line is, there is a spotlight on it. Regardless of why (and aside from the fact that it's one of these kick-off games in Reliant Stadium, I agree with you that it's because OSU is in the game, although if they were playing Rice, they wouldn't), the fact is that there is a spotlight on this game. Were we playing USM, there would be none. So if we win, regardless of whether or not people try to downplay it, they will have seen us beat a team they thought was good on national tv. That is exposure, and it is a spotlight. That only helps us; it is not a meaningless thing.

And yes, it would make some national recruits at least notice it...even if they don't consciously think anything about it, the more times we can put our name out there on a big stage and in a positive way, the more things start to snowball.

Look at Ole Miss' recruiting class...just having Robert Nkemdiche flirting with them was great exposure; the fact that he ultimately signed with them is probably going to have positive effects on their recruiting classes for a few years. No, beating OSU wouldn't be on that level in terms of exposure, but would we get positive mentions/highlights/talk out of it? Yes, we would.

[Political Hack]

if we win there will be 2-3 plays of highlights on the national media, if that... and most of them will be about OSU stinking it up. We've seen this 1,000 times.

We beat Florida... they missed the FG.
We beat UGA... they fumbled at the goal line.
We beat Michigan... Big Ten is horrible.

My only hope is we can continue discussing the impacts of a win Saturday night!

[smootness]

We beat Florida... they missed the FG.
We beat UGA... they fumbled at the goal line.
We beat Michigan... Big Ten is horrible.

My only hope is we can continue discussing the impacts of a win Saturday night!

All 3 of those were still big wins, and got good exposure from all of them, especially the Gator Bowl.

But we certainly agree on your last point. If we win it, it was a phenomenal decision; lose it, and everyone questions.

[RunDog26]

Just an opinion... I think it was a terrible move for this season.

A football season is like a marathon. And nobody starts a marathon in a sprint. This is what we've done by scheduling this game.

[DogBanker]

It's because we had dumbasses in the fan base wanting to play "middle tier" BCS schools. I remember a lot people complaining about us playing the SWACs and what not, that we needed to venture out. Now that we have, people are scared. Look, I'm ready for us to whip their ass Saturday and we will. They're not deep on their offensive line at all. And their defense will not be ready for the grind it out type offense we will be bringing into this game

[smootness]

A football season is like a marathon. And nobody starts a marathon in a sprint. This is what we've done by scheduling this game.

So then Saban has it all wrong? Richt? Most coaches of big programs in the country?

They seem to do just fine with this strategy.

[Drugdog]

OSU was way overrated. Travel got to them. Light was in their eyes. Game started too early. Cowbells were too loud. SEC referees. They hit too hard. Lucky. We would win the other 9-10 we played. We were looking ahead. We didn't take them serious.

Credit to MSU??? Doubtful.

[blacklistedbully]

I believe the thinking here is to capitalize on TAMU's entry into the SEC. B12 country is now B!2 and SEC country. They can't all go to TAMU, so perhaps the idea is to get us more exposure over there to recruits who'd like to play in the SEC. A win there could help our recruiting there. A BIG win there could help it even more. I actually do think we'll win, and even have a shot to win big.

Even if the media short-changes us on it, it'll be huge for us, for our team's confidence, and it will be a damn good looking "W" on the resume, especially if Ok State goes on to do well in the B12.

[HancockCountyDog]

I believe the thinking here is to capitalize on TAMU's entry into the SEC. B12 country is now B!2 and SEC country. They can't all go to TAMU, so perhaps the idea is to get us more exposure over there to recruits who'd like to play in the SEC. A win there could help our recruiting there. A BIG win there could help it even more. I actually do think we'll win, and even have a shot to win big.

Even if the media short-changes us on it, it'll be huge for us, for our team's confidence, and it will be a damn good looking "W" on the resume, especially if Ok State goes on to do well in the B12.

I really think people are underestimating the exposure in Texas this win can get for our program because of the SEC brand. There was a great article about how Texas is losing their grip on in-state prospects and that more and more of the top players want to play in the SEC and beating the shit out of OSU will only validate the SEC's dominance in college football.

A win may not pay off this year on the recruiting trail, but it will pay off long term in my opinion. Once TX recruits see how we stack up against OSU I really think that does nothing but give our program more of a national brand that should be able to reach outside our own borders on the recruiting trail.

[Pollodawg]

I have been perusing some of their message boards, one called Orange Power in particular. They seem to think that they will trounce us soundly. I saw a couple of predictions that didn't have us coring more than 17 pts. Ha. If we can't break 20 pts with a fifth year senior qb, a thousand yard rusher, and the entire offensive line coming back against a defense that was literally inches from the bottom last season, the entire offensive staff needs firing...........yesterday. Can't wait to plaster the second best team in Oklahoma.