Mike Gundy receives bonus for reaching Big 12 Championship Game

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy will receive a bonus after leading the Cowboys to the Big 12 Championship. OSU overcame a nearly three-touchdown deficit at halftime to defeat BYU in double overtime, 40-34 on Saturday.

According to Steve Berkowitz of USA Today, Gundy is set to receive a $62,500 bonus for reaching the conference title game. That will bring his total in bonuses this season to $125,000 on top of his $7.625 million annual salary.

The Cowboys entered the third quarter Saturday trailing the Cougars by a score of 24-6. They went on to reel off 21 unanswered points to take a 27-24 lead with just 52 seconds remaining. However, BYU would go on to march down and kick the game-tying field goal with as time expired to send the game into overtime.

Both Oklahoma State and BYU scored touchdowns in the first overtime. The Cowboys then got the ball first in the second OT as Ollie Gordon punched it in from two yards out. However, OSU failed the two-point conversion to give the Cougars a chance to come back and win the game.

That would end with defensive back Trey Rucker forcing a fumble to seal the game for good as the Cowboys punched their ticket to Arlington. Gordon scored all five of OSU’s touchdowns in the victory, finishing with 166 yards on 34 carries.

Mike Gundy has been the head coach at Oklahoma State since 2005, leading them to a 164-78 record in that span. That makes him the winningest coach in program history, and he also has an 11-6 bowl records with victories in the Fiesta Bowl and Alamo Bowl.

Gundy has led the Cowboys to a Big 12 Championship only once in his 19 seasons as coach. That occurred in 2011 when a game was not played to decide the conference champion and instead determined by the league standings.

This marks the second time in the past three seasons that Oklahoma State has advanced to the Big 12 title game. In their last appearance in 2021, they lost 21-16 to Baylor after failing to score in three plays from the Bears 1-yard line.

The Cowboys will face Texas for the crown this season, which is seeking to go out as Big 12 champs in its final season in the conference. OSU did not play the Longhorns during the regular season, but Gundy is 2-0 against Steve Sarkisian since the latter took over at Texas in 2021.

Kickoff for the Big 12 Championship is set for noon ET on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.