For the 17th consecutive time to close a football season, Oklahoma State went bowling last year under the guidance of head coach Mike Gundy.
But the Cowboys's six losses matched the program's most in a single season since Gundy's 4-7 debut campaign atop his alma mater in 2005.
So as Gundy faced a question about the OSU culture at Big 12 media days, he pointed more sport-wide than Cowboys-program-specific to assess the situation.
"I attribute it to the times," Gundy told reporters. "We can look across the country in the (NCAA Transfer) Portal. We've got players that are playing on national championship teams that are leaving and going to other schools.
"We have players that are leaving after one year, players that are leaving after five years."
The Cowboys had some 20 players enter the Portal following last year's 7-6 season, and some outgoing Pokes landed at significantly high-profile programs -- Notre Dame and Oklahoma among them.
Likewise, OSU brought in several new players expected to step into immediate roles of contribution for the coming 2023 season.
Gundy, however, said he basically has adopted a new policy to apply when he's asked about either the NCAA Transfer Portal or the ever-pervasive Name, Image and Likeness marketplace.
"For a while there, I thought it was interesting, but I'm almost considering the NIL and the Portal like religion and politics," Gundy said, "where it's not even worth discussing because we don't necessarily have a rhyme or reason for what's happening.
"We're very excited about the players that we brought in. I guess you have 10 or 12 go out, you bring 10 or 12 in, and you get your roster set and try to have a good spring ball, good summer, and get ready to play in September."
The Cowboys open their 2023 season against Football Championship Subdivision program Central Arkansas before back-to-back non-conference Football Bowls Subdivision games against Arizona State and South Alabama.
OSU begins play in the 14-team Big 12 Conference at Iowa State Sept. 23 and is set for its last scheduled 'Bedlam' rivalry game against in-state nemesis Oklahoma Nov. 4.