Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State Cowgirls |
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University | Oklahoma State University–Stillwater |
Conference | Big 12 |
NCAA | Division I |
Athletic director | Mike Holder |
Location | Stillwater, Oklahoma |
Varsity teams | 16 |
Football stadium | Boone Pickens Stadium |
Basketball arena | Gallagher-Iba Arena |
Baseball stadium | Allie P. Reynolds Stadium |
Mascot | Pistol Pete / Bullet |
Nickname | Cowboys Cowgirls Pokes |
Fight song | Ride 'Em Cowboys |
Colors | Orange and Black |
Website | www |
Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls 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 1-FBS and in the Big 12 Conference. The university's current athletic director is Mike Holder. In total, Oklahoma State has 51 NCAA team national titles, which ranks fourth in most NCAA team national championships. These national titles have come in wrestling (34), golf (10), basketball (2), baseball (1), and cross country (4). The 1945 Oklahoma A&M football team was retroactively awarded a national title in October 2016 by the American Football Coaches Association.
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, Pistol Pete, that was drawn that year is more or less the same as the one in use today.
Only a few decades removed from the cattle drive era, the cowboy was still an important figure in the Southwest. 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.
The "Waving Song" is one of the fight songs for Oklahoma State. At Oklahoma State football games, the song is played by the Cowboy Marching Band during the pregame traditions, following touchdowns, and after victories against the Cowboys' opponents. For other athletic events, the Waving Song is played after an OSU victory as the start of the fight song trilogy. While the song is played, fans wave their right arms in the air; the effect is similar to wheat waving in the wind.