Buy or Sell: Mike Gundy Deserves a National Championship

Let’s be honest; life isn’t fair and neither are sports. Plenty of great teams didn’t win titles. There are probably plenty of programs that have won titles using less than honorable practices (I’m not pointing any fingers, just expressing thoughts we’ve all had at one time or another).

This leads me to an article by Campus Insider’s Pete Fiutak. He lists the 5 college football coaches he believes deserve a national championship. At number three on this list you’ll find none other than Mike Gundy.

“In the can’t-let-it-go category, Oklahoma State should’ve played LSU for the 2011 national title instead of an Alabama team that couldn’t win its own division... Instead they went 12-1 with a Fiesta Bowl win, finishing third in the nation after the Crimson Tide shut down the Tigers.”

So, is he right? Does Mike Gundy deserve a National Championship?

BUY:

OSU got screwed in 2011. The fact that we now have a college football playoff BECAUSE of what happened with the BCS rankings back in 2011 backs that up. A voter actually put Houston ahead of the Cowboys because the Cougars went undefeated in Conference USA. It was a flawed system that allowed for a rematch of one of the most overrated college football games ever played and rewarded fans with one of the WORST national championship games ever. Gundy was left out for more well known programs and bigger named coaches. Gundy and that team deserved to be there.

Let’s look at Fiutak’s list of criteria for deserving coaches:

“1) been way awesome for a long time, 2) been hosed by the system in some way and 3) more than earned his stripes.”

1) There is NO denying how awesome Gundy is.

2) See 2011.

3) After 10 seasons at the helm of Oklahoma State, Gundy has face major ups and downs. Dealt with good and bad seasons, great and questionable quarterback play. Due criticism and praise. Gundy has earned his stripes and then some.

Gundy (like a few other coaches) deserves a National Championship.

SELL:

OSU absolutely deserved to be in the National Championship in 2011, but Mike Gundy doesn’t deserve to just have a title. He deserves the chance to play for one. There’s no promise that getting into the title game back in 2011 would have gotten Gundy a championship.

No one deserves to have a title (other than maybe the 2002 Miami Hurricanes and the 2009/2010 Boston Celtics who both got robbed by officiating). Gundy is awesome and has earned his stripes as a head coach. OSU did get jobbed in 2011. None of those criteria earns Gundy or any coach for that matter, anything.

So Cowboys fans, does what happened in 2011 earn Gundy a National Championship or just a shot at one?