Oklahoma State-Arkansas series is good for college football

STILLWATER — Not even Mike Gundy, the embodiment of Oklahoma State football, has vivid memories of the old OSU-Arkansas matchups.

Forgive him.

Gundy was 13 in 1980, the last time the Cowboys and Razorbacks played.

And what about Sam Pittman? The Arkansas coach grew up in Grove, in northeastern Oklahoma, just 75 miles from Fayetteville. Pittman, 62, is five years older than Gundy. Remember the annual OSU-Arkansas games?

“I think I went to one of those games when I was in high school,” Pittman said.

Pittman graduated from Grove High School 44 years ago, which is exactly how long the OSU-Arkansas series has been on hiatus.

“That kind of shocked me,” Pittman said.

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The series will resume at 11 a.m. Saturday. Gundy’s Cowboys (1-0) will host Pittman’s Hogs (1-0) at Boone Pickens Stadium. Three years from now, in 2027, OSU will return to Fayetteville. The two schools are scheduled to play another home-and-away series in 2032 and 2033.

At a time when college football is losing the allure of regional rivalries, it’s getting it back with Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas, two schools 189 miles and three hours away. Tulsa is the closest FBS program to Arkansas, but Oklahoma State is the closest Power Four rival. And that includes all of Arkansas’ SEC siblings.

The Cowboys and Razorbacks played each other every season from 1962 through 1980. Only two of those games (1975 and 1978) were in Stillwater. The rest were played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, the Hogs’ second home.

OSU and Arkansas played 27 times between 1912 and 1960.

The 47th meeting between the two schools will be played on Saturday. Arkansas leads the all-time series with 30 wins, 15 losses and 1 defeat.

Gundy said the matchup is not only good from a resume standpoint, but also a geographic one.

“There are a lot of people who cross over,” Gundy said. “There are a lot of people from Arkansas who live here. There are a lot of people from Oklahoma who have migrated there with Walmart and all that, so I think it’s good.”

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OSU has two Arkansas players on its roster: cornerback RJ Lester of Fort Smith and cornerback DeSean Buckner of Pine Bluff.

The Razorbacks’ roster includes brothers Bixby Luke and Dylan Hasz, wide receiver Bryce Stephens from John Marshall High School and running back Emmanuel Crawford from Pittman’s hometown of Grove.

There are all kinds of connections between Razorback and Cowboy.

Former Razorbacks player Jimmy Johnson was OSU’s coach from 1979-83. Pat Jones, Johnson’s successor at OSU, grew up in Little Rock and played for the Razorbacks. Houston Nutt He played and trained in both schools.

On Sept. 20, 1980, when OSU and Arkansas last met, Johnson’s Cowboys lost to Lou Holtz’s Razorbacks 33-20. OSU was in the Big Eight, Arkansas was in the Southwestern Conference, and Jimmy Carter was in the Oval Office.

Mike Gundy and Sam Pittman were teenagers.

Pittman, who was born in El Reno before moving to Grove, said his family requested more than 30 tickets to the game.

“I think games like this are really good for college football,” Pittman said, “and for regional football.”

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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Do you have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoma journalists by purchasing a Digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

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Oklahoma State-Arkansas series is good for college football

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