Oklahoma State Cowboys (Cowgirls for women's teams) are the athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University. Their mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big 12 Conference's South Division. The university's current athletic director is Mike Holder. In total, Oklahoma State has 48 team national titles, the fourth-most team national championships in the country. These national titles have come in wrestling (34), golf (10), basketball (2), baseball (1), and cross country (1).

OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS TICKETS EVENT DATE AVAILABILITY Shriners Children's College Showdown - Weekend 1 Tickets 2/14 Feb 14, 2025 Friday Shriners Children's College Showdown: Texas State vs. Oklahoma State Tickets 2/18 Feb 18, 2025 Tue, 6:30 PM Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Texas Arlington Mavericks Tickets 2/21 Feb 21, 2025 Friday Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Texas Arlington Mavericks Tickets 2/22 Feb 22, 2025 Saturday Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Texas Arlington Mavericks Tickets 2/23 Feb 23, 2025 Sunday

Nickname

Prior to 1957, OSU was known as Oklahoma A&M. As was common with most land-grant schools, its teams were known for many years as Aggies . However, in 1923, A&M was looking for a new mascot to replace its pet tiger (the inspiration behind the school colors of orange and black). A group of students saw Frank Eaton leading the Armistice Day Parade. He was approached to see if he would be interested in being the model for the new mascot, and he agreed. The caricature that was drawn that year is more or less the same as the one used today.

The new mascot had become so popular that by 1924, Charles Saulsberry, sports editor of the Oklahoma City Times, began calling A&M's teams the Cowboys. "Aggies" and "Cowboys" were used interchangeably until A&M was elevated to university status in 1957.

Men's basketball

Oklahoma State first took the basketball court in 1908.

Under head coach Henry Iba, the team won NCAA championships in 1945 and again in 1946. A&M center Bob Kurland was named the NCAA Tournament MVP during the their two championship seasons. Kurland was the first player to win the honor two times. Oklahoma State has a total of six Final Four appearances.

Under Eddie Sutton, the team made two Final Four appearances—in 1995 and in 2004. Sutton's son, Sean Sutton, began coaching the team in 2006 but resigned on March 31, 2008. ^[1] The team is now coached by Travis Ford.

Wrestling

Oklahoma State wrestling's tradition started in 1916 when Edward C. Gallagher, whose name is part of Gallagher-Iba Arena, became head coach. With his expertise in anatomy, he pioneered the sport of wrestling. ^[2] Gallagher coached the Cowboys until his death in 1940 from pneumonia. ^[3] During those 24 years, Gallagher had 11 team national titles, 19 undefeated seasons, and a 138-5-4 record.

After his death, Art Griffith took over and proceeded to win two straight national championships. Due to World War II, Oklahoma State wrestling was forced off the mat for three years. After the war, Griffith coached for another 11 years and won six more national championships in that time. Due to health reasons, Art Griffith resigned as head coach and Myron Roderick took over. At 23 years old, Roderick became the youngest coach to win a national championship in 1958. Roderick proceeded to win another 5 championships. In 1970, Myron Roderick stepped down to take an executive position with the U.S. Wrestling Federation. Former Stillwater High School coach Tommy Chesbro was hired as head coach and won eight Big Eight titles and one national championship in 15 years. Between 1985 to 1991, Joe Seay, former Cal State coach won five conference titles and two national titles.

In 1993, John Smith became the seventh head coach of Oklahoma State University wrestling. Smith led the Cowboys to a national title in 1995 and four consecutive national titles between 2002–2006.

Baseball

The Cowboys won their only national championship in 1959, but have finished runner-up on five other occasions. OSU won 16 consecutive conference championships under head coach Gary Ward in the Big 8 Conference. During that time, Pete Incaviglia was named Baseball America's Player of the Century, and Robin Ventura was inducted in the inaugural class into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Overall, OSU has made 19 College World Series appearances, including seven straight from 1981–1987.

The Cowboys' current head baseball coach is Frank Anderson. ^[4]

Football

The OSU football program has participatied in 18 bowl games overall and 5 in the last 6 years. There have been 9 conference championships, 1 Heisman Trophy winner, 2 NFL Hall of Fame members, and 32 All-Americans to the Cowboys' name.

Oklahoma State plays football on Lewis Field, in Boone Pickens Stadium, which is currently undergoing renovation and expansion.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys have an all-time winning percentage of 0.49341, winning 500 games and losing 514.

The current head coach is Mike Gundy (27–23 and 2–1 in bowl appearances). During Gundy's playing career, the Cowboys enjoyed their greatest success with consecutive ten-win seasons.

Barry Sanders won the Heisman Trophy in 1988. ^[5]

Author Steve Budin, whose father was a New York bookie, has recently publicized the claim that the 1954 "Bedlam" game against rival OU was fixed by mobsters in his book Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (ISBN 1-602-39099-1). ^[6]

Former defensive back Darrent Williams, a second round draft pick and starter for the Denver Broncos, was murdered in a drive-by shooting in downtown Denver in the early hours of January 1, 2007.

Conference (seasons as member)

• Independent (1901–1914)
• Southwest Conference (1915–1924)
• MVIAA (1925–1927)
• Missouri Valley Conference (1928–1956)
• Independent (1957–1959)
• Big 8 Conference (1960–1996)
• Big 12 Conference (1997–Present)

Year by year records

Golf

Karsten Creek serves as the home course of the Oklahoma State University Men's and Women's golf teams ^[7]. The Tom Fazio layout was named Golf Digest's "Best New Public Course" and served as the host site for the NCAA Men's Championship in 2003 ^[8]. The men's program has qualified for the NCAA Championship in each of its 60 seasons and has won 10 national championships, eight individual national champions, and 49 conference championships.

The women's program has also had its share of success. Under former coach Ann Pitts, the Cowgirls won 15 conference championships and made 15 appearances at the NCAA Championship. New head coach Laura Matthews led the Cowgirls to be Big 12 champions in 2005 and a top-20 finish at the NCAA Championship.

Overall success

While competing in the Big Eight Conference, the Cowboys and Cowgirls won 135 team titles and 500 individual conference championships. In the Big 12, they have earned to date 18 regular season titles and 5 postseason tournament wins.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Basketball -(2) 1945,1946

Baseball -1959

Cross Country -1954

Golf -(10) 1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2006

Wrestling -(34) 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

See also

• List of Oklahoma State University Olympians
• List of Oklahoma State University people
• Oklahoma State University homecoming
• Johnny Bright Incident

References

1. Sean Sutton resigns under pressure from Oklahoma State
2. Distinguished Member: Edward C. Gallagher
3. Why OSU?
4. Frank Anderson Biography at Oklahoma State Cowboy Baseball official website.
5. Heisman Trophy / 1988 - 54th Award
6. Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Offshore Sports Gambling Empire
7. http://www.karstencreek.com/wPAGES/wcourseinfo.htm
8. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/spring_champs_records/2003/2003_spring_champs_records.pdf