OSU Football: Can Tulsa Become a Marquee Matchup for the Cowboys?
Oklahoma State has only one in-state rival on the schedule next season, but calling it a rivalry might be disrespectful to the Cowboys.
OSU will face Tulsa for the first time since 2021 next season, and the programs have gone in vastly different directions in recent history. Although Tulsa has maintained its spot as a respectable team in a non-power conference, OSU has risen to national relevancy and looks to be a contender for the College Football Playoff moving forward. In turn, the Cowboys’ series with Tulsa has been lopsided for decades.
OSU has had close calls against Tulsa in the past few seasons, winning each of the past two matchups by single digits. However, Tulsa has not been able to get over the hump against OSU in quite some time. The last time the Golden Hurricane won a game against OSU came in 1998 in Tulsa.
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Since Tulsa won in 1991, making the series 30-25-5 all-time in OSU’s favor, the Cowboys have won 13 of the past 15 matchups, including nine straight. Since Mike Gundy took over the program in 2005, OSU has won the six meetings by a combined 131 points.
One of the Cowboys’ most competitive rivalries in the early days of the program, matchups with Tulsa did not come easy until recently. While some animosity and hope still remain with the Golden Hurricane and its fanbase, their lack of success in recent years makes it difficult to consider this a rivalry anymore, at least in football.
With only three winning seasons in the past 10 years, Tulsa has struggled to compete on the national stage, earning a spot in the AP Top 25 in only one season in that span. New coach Kevin Wilson could help turn the Golden Hurricane’s program around. With an OSU-Tulsa matchup on the schedule for the next eight seasons, consistently competitive matchups could do wonders to reignite the rivalry.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.