OSU football: Mike Gundy would put Alabama ahead of Cowboys

If Gundy was going to try to sway any voters, it would happen after the OU game, he said. But only if someone like OSU athletic director Mike Holder, president Burns Hargis or the media relations staff told him to.

“I'm not saying that I wouldn't (politick),” Gundy said. “…I don't spend much time thinking about it, and so if somebody made me do it, I would probably say something. I would do it uncomfortably. But I wouldn't mention it until after the game, and at that time, it may be too late.

“I just think we need to prepare and do the best we can to win this game, and then move forward from that point on.”

The lack of politicking does not mean Gundy does not believe in his team, of course. He just knows that the decision of which one-loss team will play in New Orleans in Jan. 9 is ultimately out of his hands.

“I think on any given day on any site in the country, that we can play with anybody in the country,” Gundy said. “I don't doubt that for one second.

“If we win this game and we play well, and somebody thinks that it's enough to put us in position to play for (the national title), nobody will be more fired up than I will about it and excited for our players.”