The Oklahoma State Cowboys travel to Autzen Stadium in Week 2 to face the top-five-ranked Oregon Ducks. With his team a heavy underdog (-28.5) heading into the matchup, Cowboys’ coach Mike Gundy used his first press conference of the week to call out Oregon’s football budget.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Gundy claimed it cost approximately $40 million last year to assemble the Ducks’ roster last season. While he doesn’t know what Oregon’s football budget is in 2025, he noted that it will cost a lot of money to keep quarterback Dante Moore next season and Oregon shouldn’t face teams that spend significantly less than them.
“I think Oregon spent close to $40 (million) last year alone. So, that was just one year. Now, I might be off a few million…Oregon is paying a lot, a lot of money for their team. From a nonconference standpoint, there’s coaches saying they should (play teams with similar budgets).”
Oklahoma State Cowboys HC Mike Gundy on the Oregon Ducks football budget (via ESPN)
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- Dan Lanning coaching record: 36-6 as the Oregon Ducks football coach
While Gundy didn’t specifically call for a dramatic realignment of college football, where programs with the biggest budgets would only play one another, saying that “other coaches” are saying it certainly indicates it’s an idea that’s been on his mind for a while.
Gundy would likely be happy that the SEC schedule next year will move to nine conference games, meaning the top programs in one of the biggest-spending conferences in college football will face one another more. However, there will still be instances each year where programs like the Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs will face SEC teams like the Vanderbilt Commodores, Missouri Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats and Mississippi State Bulldogs, schools that are spending way less on their football teams.
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- Mike Gundy coaching record: 170-88 as Oklahoma State Cowboys coach
Oklahoma State’s head coach might not like it, but college football has become professionalized and the business model already reflects it. Both in the NBA and MLB, top-spending teams like the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and New York Knicks routinely face small-budget clubs like the Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets.
Dan Lanning Responds to Mike Gundy’s Call Out of Oregon’s NIL Budget
Unsurprisingly, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was asked in his first press conference with reporters this week about the comments made by Gundy. Fittingly, he acknowledged that what the Ducks are going is just the nature of modern college football if you want to win at the highest level.
“If you want to be a top-10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning. We spend to win. Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t. … I can’t speak on their situation; I have no idea what they got in their pockets over there.”
Ducks HC Dan Lanning on Mike Gundy’s Callout of Oregon’s Football Spending
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Whatever Oklahoma State is spending on its football program, it obviously isn’t working. After a 10-4 season in 2023, Gundy’s Cowboys went 3-9 last year. Despite having one of the best running backs in college football, Oklahoma State’s offensive line resulted in his production imploding in his final season.
It caused Gordon to fall to the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Miami Dolphins. Gordon has already earned a role in the Dolphins’ offense, while Oklahoma State is hoping to avoid another disastrous season.
