Oklahoma State’s 2024-25 schedule is complete.

On Thursday, the Big 12 announced the conference slate for next season. With men’s basketball taking on a new 20-game schedule, the conference is set for one of the most chaotic seasons in recent memory.

As the Steve Lutz era begins, OSU is looking to enter a more successful chapter after Mike Boynton made the NCAA Tournament only once in seven tries. With Lutz at the helm, OSU will navigate a solid nonconference schedule before starting Big 12 play against Houston in late December.

Cowboy Basketball’s 2024-25 Big 12 Schedule:

Dec. 30: Houston
Jan. 4: at West Virginia
Jan. 7: Kansas State
Jan. 11: at Utah
Jan. 14: at BYU
Jan. 18: Colorado
Jan. 21: Arizona
Jan. 26: at Texas Tech
Jan. 29: at Kansas State
Feb. 1: Utah
Feb. 4: at Houston
Feb. 9: Arizona State
Feb. 12: at TCU
Feb. 15: Texas Tech
Feb. 19: UCF
Feb. 22: at Kansas
Feb. 25: Iowa State
March 1: at Baylor
March 5: at UCF
March 8: Cincinnati

Under Lutz, the Cowboys have completely revamped their roster after losing most of last season’s contributors. With a mix of veterans and young players, OSU is likely to have some growing pains as it enters conference play.

Still, the Cowboys have plenty of players ready to prove they can compete in the Big 12, and OSU has an opportunity to be a surprise team next season. Any improvement from last season would be a step in the right direction, and a few upsets against some of the nation’s best could be significant for the program.

Meanwhile, the Cowgirls and Jacie Hoyt are set to begin their first season in a 16-team league. Unlike the men’s, Big 12 women’s basketball will stay at an 18-game slate next season.

After making the NCAA Tournament in her first season, the Cowgirls’ bad injury luck destroyed their chances of making it again last season. With a revamped roster, including some instant impact transfers, OSU could be a sneaky good team in the conference next season.

Cowgirl Basketball’s 2024-25 Big 12 Schedule:

Dec. 21: Iowa State
Jan. 1: at Baylor
Jan. 4: Kansas
Jan. 8: at Cincinnati
Jan. 11: West Virginia
Jan. 14: at Houston
Jan. 18: at UCF
Jan. 22: TCU
Jan. 25: at Texas Tech
Jan. 29: Arizona State
Feb. 1: at West Virginia
Feb. 8: Kansas State
Feb. 12: Arizona
Feb. 15: at BYU
Feb. 18: at Utah
Feb. 22: Colorado
Feb. 26: Cincinnati
March 2: at Kansas

READ MORE: Oklahoma State’s Playoff Hopes Rely on Week 5 Result

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma was preparing to execute a man Thursday while waiting for Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt to decide whether to spare the death row inmate’s life and accept a rare clemency recommendation from the state’s parole board.

Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, was set to die by lethal injection for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery.

In six years as governor, Stitt has granted clemency only once and denied recommendations from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board in three other cases. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Stitt said the governor had met with prosecutors and Littlejohn’s attorneys but had not reached a decision.

The execution was scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Littlejohn would be the 14th person executed in Oklahoma under Stitt’s administration.

Another execution was set for later Thursday in Alabama, and if both are carried out, it would be the first time in decades that five death row inmates were put to death in the U.S. within one week.

In Oklahoma, an appellate court on Wednesday denied a last-minute legal challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection method of execution.

Littlejohn would be the third Oklahoma inmate put to death this year. He was 20 when prosecutors say he and co-defendant Glenn Bethany robbed the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in south Oklahoma City in June 1992. The store’s owner, Kenneth Meers, 31, was killed.

During video testimony to the Pardon and Parole Board last month, Littlejohn apologized to Meers’ family but denied firing the fatal shot. Littlejohn’s attorneys pointed out that the same prosecutor tried Bethany and Littlejohn in separate trials using a nearly identical theory, even though there was only one shooter and one bullet that killed Meers.

But prosecutors told the board that two teenage store employees who witnessed the robbery both said Littlejohn, not Bethany, fired the fatal shot. Bethany was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Littlejohn’s attorneys also argued that killings resulting from a robbery are rarely considered death penalty cases and that prosecutors today would not have pursued the ultimate punishment.

“It is evident that Emmanuel would not have been sentenced to death if he’d been tried in 2024 or even 2004,” attorney Caitlin Hoeberlein told the board.

Littlejohn was prosecuted by former Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy, who was known for his zealous pursuit of the death penalty and secured 54 death sentences during more than 20 years in office.

Because of the board’s 3-2 recommendation, Stitt had the option of commuting Littlejohn’s sentence to life in prison without parole. The governor has appointed three of the board’s members.

In 2021, Stitt granted clemency to Julius Jones, commuting his sentence to life without parole just hours before Jones was scheduled to receive a lethal injection. He denied clemency recommendations from the board for Bigler Stouffer, James Coddington and Phillip Hancock, all of whom were executed.

The executions in Oklahoma and Alabama would make for 1,600 executions nationwide since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

NORMAN — Brent Venables has made his decision. 

True freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. will start this week at Auburn, and he’ll become the first OU true freshman quarterback to make his first start on the road since Troy Aikman against Kansas in 1984.

Auburn week was always going to be crucial for Venables’ No. 21-ranked Sooners (3-1, 0-1 SEC), as it was expected to be the first true road start for Jackson Arnold. 

Though the situation has gone differently than anyone expected at quarterback, the fact still remains that a first time road starter will have to take on a desperate group in the Tigers (2-2, 0-1).

“We as coaches gotta be the headlights for our players,” Venables said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “They’ve never been a two-year veteran yet. Mike hasn’t. He hasn’t played a whole bunch of college football. He hasn’t been to that stadium.”

Much like last week’s battle with Tennessee, Sunday wasn’t the first time Auburn was brought up to the offense. 

The Sooners dedicated bits and pieces of the offseason to looking ahead to SEC play, as OU is taking on eight new conference opponents for the first time this year. 

That prep work included a quick crash course on everything to expect inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

“(We) try to paint the picture. Accurate picture,” Venables said. “Pump in the crowd noise, tell him to focus on the things you can control. If he’s a strong-minded guy, he’ll do that. Try to think about the process. Think about managing things the right way, don’t try to do too much, and all those kinds of things.

“… We’ve been talking about going to Auburn for several months. So, if he’s been paying attention, this isn’t the first time he’s hearing about it.”

When he was at Clemson, Venables coached on the plains, so he has some experience to draw on to prepare his football team. 

“Got a great opponent… a great history and tradition in Auburn University,” Venables said. “… It’s electric. They’ve got tremendous tradition and pageantry. They’ll be deep. They’re hungry. Very much like what we saw here. Our fans were (just) amazing. It’ll be an environment like that.”

Oklahoma does have some experience to lean on in its quarterback room, however. 

Though he’s not in line to take snaps if everything goes to plan this weekend, Casey Thompson has been through the highs and lows of running an offense in college football. 

He’s dealt with transferring from Texas to Nebraska to FAU, he’s dealt with injuries and he’s battled through multiple quarterback competitions. 

The Sooners have leaned on Thompson to help both Jackson Arnold and Hawkins, and getting a young quarterback prepared to handle a hostile environment is no different. 

“He’s been there, done that,” Venables said of Thompson. “He’s started a gazillion games, played a lot of ball, been in a lot of meeting rooms, seen a lot of that kind of stuff happen, and so he’s got tremendous wisdom. 

“… He’s going to be a coach. He’ll be a fantastic coach. He’s kind of a coach now. But he’s been wonderful. He’s very intentional, constantly, about using the gifts that he has to make people around him better. … We have a great appreciation for Casey.”

Hawkins will have an excellent opportunity to build on his second half showing against Tennessee and make the quarterback job his own on Saturday. 

And Oklahoma is doing everything it can to prepare its new young starter to take on the unknown against the Tigers. 

“He’ll have to bear a heavy burden, like a lot of guys,” Venables said. “So you try to coach ‘em and prepare him in a week’s period of time.”