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).
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OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS TICKETS
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Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Houston Cougars Tickets 12/30 | Dec 30, 2024 Mon, 7:00 PM | | Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Air Force Falcons Tickets 1/3 | Jan 03, 2025 Fri, 7:00 PM | | West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys Tickets 1/4 | Jan 04, 2025 Sat, 12:00 PM | | Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Kansas State Wildcats Tickets 1/7 | Jan 07, 2025 Tue, 7:00 PM | | Cincinnati Bearcats Women's Basketball vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys Tickets 1/8 | Jan 08, 2025 Wed, 6:30 PM | |
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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
- Sean Sutton resigns under pressure from Oklahoma State
- Distinguished Member: Edward C. Gallagher
- Why OSU?
- Frank Anderson Biography at Oklahoma State Cowboy Baseball official website.
- Heisman Trophy / 1988 - 54th Award
- Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Offshore Sports Gambling Empire
- http://www.karstencreek.com/wPAGES/wcourseinfo.htm
- http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/spring_champs_records/2003/2003_spring_champs_records.pdf