Oklahoma State Mike Gundy added fire to Saturday’s game against Oregon when he preemptively laid out the reasons why his team was going to lose.
If you haven’t seen Gundy’s comments yet, he said he was afraid that 10-12 schools would spend a “lopsided amount of money” and that it would limit fan interest if they knew some teams would always win. “They want to see a good football game, played hard and they don’t want to know who’s going to win,” Gundy said.
He continued, all but making the point his team would lose Saturday against Oregon (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+), when he repeatedly talked about how much money the Ducks spent on their roster recently. The money quote was, “I think Oregon spent close to $40 million last year. That was just one year. Now, I might be off a few million.”
Funny enough, I don’t remember Gundy complaining when T. Boone Pickens was bankrolling Oklahoma State football when the facilities arms race was all the rage.
Gundy isn’t the first to do it, but he is part of a trend of coaches using exaggerated NIL numbers to explain away why their team lost. Or, in Gundy’s case, why it would likely lose.
Southern Miss coach Charles Huff had an equally outrageous, yet lesser-discussed, comment when he said Mississippi State spent $15 million on its offense and defensive lines this season after his Golden Eagles lost 34-17 to the Bulldogs. That was patently false – Mississippi State spent NOWHERE near that much on its lines – but it accomplished Huff’s goal of making USM feel like it was up against an impossible task and should be proud just keeping it close.
These coaches are benefitting from a lack of transparency around how much rosters costs and what players are being paid. The introduction of revenue sharing gives a better baseline on what programs are spending, but with so many taking advantage of NIL front-loading ahead of it going into effect this year, it is very hard to know what’s real and what’s not. Most teams like to downplay their own spending to seem like they are overachieving and to limit player asks if they believe there’s lots of money up for grab. Overstating a competitor’s budget can seed discord within a locker room.
Lanning, for his part, had the perfect response to Gundy. He’s used to being on the receiving end of money envy barbs from competitors.
“If you want to be a top-10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning,” Lanning said. “We spend to win.”
At the end of the day, that’s all there is to it. If you’re jealous of another team having more money, that’s a “you” problem, not a “them” problem. Oregon is very fortunate, no doubt, to have Nike co-founder Phil Knight very committed to financially helping Oregon win a national championship one day. Oregon isn’t alone in having a wealthy benefactor, though. Texas Tech chairman Cody Campbell bankrolled an audacious overhaul in Lubbock. There’s plenty of money in places like Ann Arbor, Columbus, Austin and elsewhere, too.
But if you listened to coaches like Gundy, you’d believe there is significantly more money in the market than there actually is. The next time a coach hypes up a competitor’s salary budget, remember there’s a self-serving motivation behind it. And when it happens before the game is even played, take the opponent to win — big.
Other notable Week 2 storylines
The We Want to be More Bowl: No. 11 Illinois at Duke
This is my personal favorite game of the weekend, though I’m admittedly biased after making offseason trips to Champaign and Durham. Still, it is a fascinating matchup of two programs who really, really want to take the leap from good to great this season. Both exceeded expectations a season ago — Illinois 10-3 and finishing No. 16; Duke 9-4 — and think/hope/want to be more than that this season. If that’s going to happen, it sure would help to win Saturday. Duke went out and got Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah, on one of the richest contracts in college football history, to win games like this. Illinois fended off other programs, including SEC suitors, to keep quarterback Luke Altmyer to win games like this one.
Another interesting subplot: How good both these teams were a year ago in winning close games. Illinois went 5-0 in one-score games in 2024 while Duke went 6-1. It’s a good bet that this one will be close, too, and both these programs attract similar hard-working guys who were largely overlooked in the recruiting rankings. Duke coach Manny Diaz explained to me that it is part of the Blue Devils’ secret sauce.
“We want talented guys but there’s got to be something else about you and normally there’s some same in terms of upbringing, just the type of guy they are,” Diaz told CBS Sports. “As a result, I think those guys play very hard for each other, and I think those are what allow you to win close games.”
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Oklahoma, Venables really need this one
We are only in Week 2 so there are no such things as must wins except Kalen DeBoer having to beat Louisiana Monroe this weekend. This one is obviously important to both No. 15 Michigan and No. 18 Oklahoma but the stakes seem to be bigger for the Sooners. Oklahoma’s Brent Venables was on the second-hottest seat on CBS Sports’ hot seat rankings and the industry perception is that a loss to the Wolverines will crank the pressure up on the third-year coach. “It could turn quickly there,” is how one plugged-in observer put it. It doesn’t help Venables’ job security, either, that the man who hired him (Joe Castiglione) is retiring.
The vibes are good in Norman right now behind a new-look offense featuring John Mateer, and a win over Michigan just amplifies that. I like the Sooners’ chances in this one — Venables is 21-5 lifetime against freshman quarterbacks, per our Richard Johnson — and think the momentum rolls into SEC conference play. But if it doesn’t, the tides could start turning.
Sneaky tough game of the week: No. 12 Arizona State at Mississippi State
Arizona State was the darling of the 2024 season, launching a surprise run to the College Football Playoff behind Cam Skattebo and Sam Leavitt. The Sun Devils are highly ranked, but still a work in progress that could be challenged in the loud cowbell-laden Mississippi State environment. ASU coach Kenny Dillingham even ruffled some feathers over at MSU for his comments about no hotel options around Starkville. These two teams played each other tough a year ago, it’s a challenging road environment for ASU and Mississippi State played tough against the best opponents (Texas, Georgia, Texas A&M) on its schedule last season. The Bulldogs may not win, but it’ll be closer than people expect. The current line of at Arizona State -3.5 is awfully stinky.
Border War Returns
As the great Bruce Springsteen once wrote, “Maybe everything that dies someday comes back.” For 14 years, the Border War (Kansas vs. Missouri) was gone and didn’t look likely to come back, the result of hurt feelings over Missouri leaving the Big 12 for the SEC. There were efforts to bring it back, but a variety of egos got involved and squashed it. That the Border War is actually happening Saturday feels like a miracle, and one that should be celebrated at that. Both these teams beat up on FCS opponents Week 1 so it’s hard to take much from that, but with Mizzou QB Sam Horn out an extended period of time, all eyes are on Beau Pribalu in his first big test as the Tigers’ starter.
Salty Talty
Each week this space will be my airing of grievances, my opportunity to let the audience know what has been really grinding my gears. Hopefully it’ll be mostly college football-related, but it’s a good bet travel, family and other day-to-day life annoyances will find a way in.
I didn’t want to have to go to the travel grievance well so soon into the season, but a certain airline that has two names that start with the same letter left me no choice.
After a great long weekend in the Carolinas for LSU-Clemson and TCU-UNC, I was scheduled to fly out of Raleigh-Durham International airport on Tuesday afternoon at 1:58 p.m. to Charlotte before concluding my trip in Birmingham. The great Chip Patterson assured me I would have no problems getting out of RDU easily.
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John Talty
That proved erroneous. Here’s how it actually played out.
12:24 p.m: Flight delayed to 2:40 p.m.
Salty level: 3/10
Flying is such a mess these days that only an hour delay feels like you’ve escaped with minimal injury.
12:44 p.m: Flight delayed to 2:55 p.m.
Salty level: 4.5/10
The concern starts to grow as to why the airline felt the need to only push back the time 15 minutes. I feel like I’ve seen this movie before.
1:34 p.m: Flight delayed to 3:54 p.m.
Salty level: 7/10
In an hour at RDU, my flight has been delayed two hours. I quickly start doing the math on whether I can still make my connection in Charlotte to Birmingham.
1:38 p.m: Missed connection and rebooked on a 9 p.m. flight out of Charlotte
Salty level: 9/10
S—
2:07 p.m: Flight delayed to 4:24 p.m.
2:07 p.m: Flight delayed to 4:44 p.m.
Salty level: 9.5/10
This was the one that made me lose it and laugh like an insane person. How does this happen? Is (redacted name) trolling me at this point? The person who sent back-to-back text updates in the same minute of two different times must be stopped.
2:55 p.m: Flight delayed to 5:43 p.m.
Salty level: 10/10
The longer you stay at the airport, the more disturbed you become of the behavior exhibited within it. The playing of music/TikTok/TV shows on full volume without headphones. Overhearing people in the airport bathroom on the phone while in a stall. The general confusion at how anything and everything works as if the airport was just invented. I need a drink.
4:47 p.m: Flight delayed to 5:55 p.m.
Salty level: The limit does not exist
Might be time to switch to bourbon.
4:55 p.m: Flight delayed to 6:07 p.m.
Salty level: 8.5/10 aka bourbon helps
I may just live in Raleigh now. Hope Chip has a free bed for me.
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