STILLWATER, Okla. – Mike Gundy knows what everyone's thinking: Boone Pickens bought himself a college football team with his $165 million gift in January.

Absolutely untrue. For one thing, Pickens' hedge fund reportedly is now worth $266 million, which is why I'm sending my life savings in hopes he can achieve similar results, if on a slightly smaller scale.

Also: Not once has the Texas billionaire ever tried to tell the Oklahoma State coach who to play or what to run.

One thing, Mike: Would you run one of his plays if he gave you one?

"I'm no dummy," Gundy deadpanned. "And I'd run it when he wants me to run it, too."

Come to think of it, coming off a 4-7 debut as coach in a league with a couple of national title contenders, he might have been serious.

Hey, Victor DeGrate: What do you think about a little Boone-doggle?

"Hell, yeah, we should run it," said the senior defensive end. " Hell, yeah."

Pardon the Cowboys if they seem a little emotional. They're not used to largesse of this nature. DeGrate didn't leave DeSoto for Stillwater because of the facilities, and a good thing, too.

Gundy ranks the Cowboys dead last in furniture. After OSU expands the football stadium to 61,000 for the 2008 season and the 20,000-square foot weight room goes in as well as a $50 million indoor practice facility, he expects to re-evaluate.

"It'll be the nicest facility in the country," Gundy said. "Won't even be close."

Hard to say with the arms race in college athletics these days. Even harder to quantify what it means.

Question: How many wins is a locker room with 20-foot ceilings really worth?

Answer: OSU won't find out for at least a couple of seasons. But until the new digs are in, there's hope for something different.

"If you look at the history of Oklahoma State," said Gundy, quarterback for the Cowboys in the late '80s and an assistant most of the time since, "it's really been a roller-coaster ride."

Consider the Pat Jones era: After Jimmy Johnson bolted for Miami, the Cowboys won 10 games, then 8, 6, 10, 10, 4, 4, 0, 4, 3 and 3.

And Jones is one of the school's greatest success stories, his 11-year tenure as long as any.

"They didn't stay," Gundy said of his predecessors, "because the school didn't make a commitment to football."

Check that off the list. Once facilities are upgraded – a monster of a plan that includes everything from baseball to equestrian – OSU expects it to affect recruiting.

"You always compare when you go other places," said Jacob Lacey, a sophomore cornerback from Garland Naaman Forest. "Once this place gets done, ain't gonna be no more comparing."

Of course, Lacey was an easy sell. He came for a room big enough to hold a couch.

Still, Gundy thinks it's no coincidence that his first recruiting class as head coach was ranked in the nation's top 20. Every one of those kids saw the master plans.

OSU's had great players with less. Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas, notably. Les Miles upset Oklahoma a couple of times because of talent such as Kevin Williams, Rashaun Woods and Tatum Bell, all high NFL draft picks.

But OSU needs more of those type of players to challenge in the Big 12 South. And it'd be a bonus if every time a coach here wins, he didn't leave for someplace else, as Miles did for LSU.

Until OSU resolves those two issues, the best the Cowboys can hope is to be a foil in someone else's season.

"We need to make a name for ourselves," said Mike Hamilton, the sophomore tailback. "We need to get our name out there."

Pickens' gift has certainly made that possible. USA Today made OSU its centerpiece Wednesday.

You can debate the dangers all you want. Will he try to exert too much influence? Will he make it his toy?

Does he have a thing for the Wishbone?

No signs yet. Not that Gundy seems worried. He looks out his office window at a hole the size of Henryetta and sees a dream half-full.

"They started digging that just 10 days ago," he said. "It's amazing what you can get done when you pay cash."

E-mail ksherrington@dallasnews.com