Undefeated WVU Meets Oklahoma State in Big 12 Opener With Larger Stakes
The short version
- Unbeaten West Virginia (win over No. 25 Virginia) hosts once-beaten Oklahoma State (upset of No. 6 Oregon) Saturday in the Big 12 opener.
- Both programs are rebuilding after poor 2025 seasons: Oklahoma State went 0-9 in league play and changed coaches; WVU finished 4-8.
- The game features transfer stars: QB Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) and RB Cam Cook (WVU), plus WVU QB Michael Hawkins Jr.'s five-TD game against Virginia.
- The matchup underscores the Big 12's search for a football power following Oklahoma and Texas's move to the SEC.
Saturday's matchup in Morgantown pairs two rebuilding programs looking to climb back toward relevance in a Big 12 still searching for a football power.
Undefeated West Virginia hosts once-beaten Oklahoma State on Saturday in Morgantown, with both programs treating the Big 12 opener as a chance to continue climbing back toward national relevance after down years in 2025.
Oklahoma State finished last season at the bottom of the Big 12 with an 0-9 conference record and just one win overall, a collapse that ended the Mike Gundy era and brought in Eric Morris as head coach. West Virginia went 4-8 with a 2-7 league mark, ahead of only the Cowboys and Colorado in the standings.
Each team has already notched a statement win this season. Oklahoma State upset then-No. 6 Oregon after dropping its opener at Tulsa, while West Virginia beat No. 25 Virginia on a neutral field.
The quarterback angle adds intrigue. Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker led the nation in passing last season at North Texas, where he played for Morris, before transferring. West Virginia counters with Michael Hawkins Jr., who has fit Rich Rodriguez's up-tempo zone-read system well. In the Virginia upset, Hawkins accounted for five touchdowns — two passing, three rushing — while totaling 313 yards. The Mountaineers also feature Cam Cook, the nation's leading rusher last season at Jacksonville State.
Beyond the matchup itself, the game highlights the Big 12's search for an identity since Oklahoma and Texas departed for the SEC. The two schools had functioned as the conference's flagship football programs, comparable to Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten or Alabama and Georgia in the SEC, and no clear successor has emerged. Texas Tech has invested heavily in trying to claim that role.
West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker views the league's balance as an asset rather than a weakness. "You have a lot of good brands with good traditions, but you really don't have a dominant power," he said, adding that every fan base has reason to believe it can compete for a championship in a given year.
That parity has shown up in the standings. Big 12 preseason polls have missed badly two years running — none of the top five predicted finishers in 2024 or 2025 placed near the top — leading the conference to eliminate its preseason poll. Baker also noted that Oklahoma and Texas drove much of the league's television viewership, and that the current membership now delivers more even value across brands.
West Virginia has lived through a similar transition before. In the old Big East, the Mountaineers were a football power alongside Miami and Virginia Tech, and the conference's football structure crumbled when those programs left for the ACC. The Big 12 remains known first for Kansas basketball, but a power conference ultimately depends on football strength.
The winner Saturday could take an early step toward filling the Big 12's football void, though any climb remains in its infancy. Baker said he believes West Virginia can build a brand that competes year-in and year-out, pointing to recent success in Olympic sports, a strong first season under basketball coach Ross Hodge, and progress across the two revenue sports.
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