Oklahoma has a mixed relationship with ice hockey in the United States. An unlikely destination for ice hockey due to both its warm climate and modest population (28th in the nation in 2022), Oklahoma didn't have its first major ice hockey team until 1964. Professional hockey has been in Oklahoma for 83 years. This might come as a surprise to many outside the state and even to some native Oklahomans, considering Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907.
In Oklahoma professional hockey relegated itself to the two largest cities, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. In 1928 Walter Whiteside organized a franchise in Tulsa for the American Hockey Association (AHA).
During the 1920’s Tulsa was thriving in the midst of their second oil boom with an expanding population of over 72,000 residents, many moving from the east coast. Great oil barons such as J. The original Tulsa Oilers was first organized in 1928 by Walter R. Whiteside, a transplanted Minnesota millionaire, and the team name has continued through several distinct organizations, with the exception of the years 1942-1945 during World War II, and 1951-1964.
This first Tulsa Oilers team won the regular-season championship and the playoffs. Initial success created a niche for hockey that endured in the city through much of the twentieth century. The team lost in the finals in 1930 and then won both the season and playoffs again in 1931. The Oilers continued playing in the AHA until War World II shut the league down in 1942 but in 1945 again took to the ice, now playing in the United States Hockey League.
The Oilers began operations again after the war, this time in the United States Hockey League, a rebranded version of the American Hockey Association. The team was led by Hockey Hall of Famer Clint Smith, who won the USHL MVP. However, Smith couldn’t lead this Oilers team to a championship, despite the team book ending their existence with USHL Finals appearances.
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In 1951 the league folded, and in 1965 the Oilers returned to the rink as a member of the one-year-old Central Hockey League (CHL) as a minor league team for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers won their first CHL championship in the 1967-68 season. Tulsa won the CHL's last championship in 1984 before the league folded. During a twenty-year stint in the now-defunct CHL, Tulsa had six different NHL parent teams. When the CHL organized again in 1992, the Oilers fielded a team and won the inaugural championship. This Tulsa Oiler reincarnation flourished into the twenty-first century.
The team has continued operations every year since being founded, despite the CHL collapsing and merging with the ECHL before the 2014-15 season. The Oilers continued in the ECHL, entering a new era in 2021 when current owner, Andy Scurto, purchased the team. Scurto immediately took to Tulsa, moving his home to Green Country and beginning massive improvements to the franchise. Scurto brought the Tulsa Oilers Football to town, competing in the IFL and also playing at the BOK Center. The shining beacon of Scurto's expansion is the WeStreet Ice Center - a 40,000-square-foot, $35-million-dollar facility.
The WeStreet Ice Center brought a full-time practice facility for the Oilers team, while providing the community with two new ice sheets Puck's Sports Bar and Grill - a full-service restaurant and bar with capacity for 400 patrons. WeStreet also serves as the Tulsa Jr. Oilers home and hosts Oklahoma State University hockey as well.
Oklahoma City soon followed in Tulsa’s footsteps, when the Oklahoma City Warriors team was organized in 1933, within the AHA. However, three short years later at the end of the 1935-1936 season, the Oklahoma City Warriors moved to Minneapolis.
Oklahoma City did not exhibit a team again until 1965 when the CHL brought the Oklahoma City Blazers to town. The first two seasons produced championship playoff teams. The Boston Bruins served as the NHL affiliate for the Blazers through 1972. Oklahoma City did not field a team during the 1972-73 season but affiliated with the Toronto Mapleleafs beginning with the 1973-74 season. Again sitting out a year during the 1977-78 season, the team opened in 1978 with a new name, the Oklahoma City Stars, and parent team, the Minnesota North Stars.
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The 1981-82 season was the last for the Stars and the only season the team aligned with the Calgary Flames. When the new CHL organized again in 1992, the revived Blazers finished first in the regular season standings and in 1996 and 2001 won the playoff championship. The team generated exceptional crowds for minor league hockey throughout the 1990s.
The Oklahoma Coyotes, a Roller Hockey International League team, called Oklahoma City home in 1994-95 and 1995-96. At the beginning of the twenty-first century Tulsa hosted an amateur ice hockey team, the Tulsa Crude, in the United States Hockey League and a junior hockey team called the Bazooka Blues.
Throughout the life of minor-league hockey in Oklahoma many coaches and players worked their way to the NHL, achieving stardom and winning championships.
Seeking to increase its footprint in hockey's the suddenly expanding sphere of influence, the Toronto Maple Leafs established the Tulsa Oilers as a farm team in the CPHL which had started a year earlier. The following year the Minneapolis Bruins, a subsidiary of the Boston Bruins, relocated to the state and became the Oklahoma City Blazers.
In their first year of play the Blazers defeated Tulsa in the for the league championship and kicked off a rivalry between the two. The championship would remain in Oklahoma for four years, being won by one or the other during that time, but by 1970 the teams began to lose their strength. Once the Bruins withdrew from the Blazers in 1972, the team folded. Oklahoma City went without a pro team for a year before Toronto moved the Oilers to OKC and renamed them as the 'Oklahoma City Blazers'.
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Immediately following the Oilers departure, a second franchise of the same name was created. The new Tulsa team won the league title in 1976 and managed to establish itself with the community. The same could not be said for the new Blazers. After a good first season, the team declined and by 1976 the Maple Leafs cut the franchise loose as a financial drain. The Colorado Rockies stepped in as sponsors but the Blazers sank to the bottom of the league in 1977 and then folded.
A year later the CHL returned to Oklahoma City with the Oklahoma City Stars. The team was run by the Minnesota North Stars for the first three seasons and saw some improvement in that time. After switching to the Calgary Flames in 1981, the team flatlined and finished 29 games under .500. That turned out to be the final year for the Stars, who were never able to establish the same kind of rivalry the Blazers had had with the Oilers.
In 1992, the CHL name was revived and both the Tulsa Oilers and Oklahoma City Blazers were resurrected. While neither had any official connection to the earlier iterations other than their names, the two were able to continue the tradition of minor league hockey in Oklahoma. In the new league's first final, the Oilers defeated the Blazers and instantly rekindled the rivalry between the two fan bases. Three years later Oklahoma City won the championship and then added a second in 2001.
The Blazers routinely finished ahead of the Oilers in the standings for existence but the team found itself a victim of its own success. When rumors of a potential AHL team in Oklahoma City surfaced in 2009, the Blazers withdrew their lease extension and folded after the season. Just over a year later, the Oklahoma City Barons made their debut but the new team didn't enjoy the same level of interest as the Blazers.
In the meantime, the Oilers continued in the CHL until that league folded in 2014. This time, however, Tulsa was able to survive by joining the ECHL. Towards the end of the Barons' tenure in OKC, the city got its first junior team when the Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers began in 2014. The team played in the WSHL for six seasons but saw both the franchise and the league cease operations in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the wake of their disappearance, a different junior team from Wisconsin assumed the mantle of the Jr. Blazers. A year later, they restyled themselves as the Oklahoma City Ice Hawks. Once season later, the NAHL announced that they would be moving into the region in 2022.
Oklahoma State University Athletics
The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Big 12 Conference. The university's current athletic director is Chad Weiberg, who replaced the retiring Mike Holder on July 1, 2021.
Oklahoma State has won 57 national championships, including 55 NCAA team national titles, which ranks sixth in most NCAA team national championships. These national titles have come in wrestling (34), golf (12), cross country (6), basketball (2), and baseball (1), and the Cowboys also claim non-NCAA national titles in football (1) and equestrian (1). Oklahoma State fields 18 varsity teams, 9 each for men and women.
Prior to 1957, Oklahoma State University was known as Oklahoma A&M. As was common with most land-grant schools, its teams were known for many years as the Aggies, though they were sometimes also called the Tigers. 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 famed cowboy 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. 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 Times, began calling A&M's teams the "Cowboys".
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 Oklahoma State victories as the start of the fight song trilogy. The song's melody is that of "The Streets of New York", a song from the Victor Herbert operetta, The Red Mill. The lyrics used by Oklahoma State were written by H.G. Seldomridge, a professor at what was then Oklahoma A&M who heard the tune on a visit to New York City. It was first sung in 1908 at a follies show at Stillwater's Grand Opera House.
Oklahoma A&M was a founding member of the Southwest Conference. In 1925, they moved to the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Three years later, the conference split with the six largest schools forming the Big Six and Oklahoma A&M remaining with three smaller schools to form the Missouri Valley Conference. In 1956, Oklahoma A&M went independent in anticipation of an invitation to join the Big Seven (an enlarged Big Six). In June 1957, the recently renamed Oklahoma State officially joined the Big Seven, which was renamed the Big Eight. However, Oklahoma State did not compete as part of the conference until the 1958-59 season for basketball and the 1960 season for football.
Because both the MVC and the Big Eight claimed to be the direct successor of the MVIAA, some consider Oklahoma State's move to the Big Eight as rejoining the conference.
Basketball
Under head coach Henry Iba, the team won back-to-back NCAA national championships in 1945 and 1946. Oklahoma A&M center Bob Kurland was named the NCAA Tournament MVP during their two national championship seasons and became the first player to win the honor two times. In total, the Cowboys have appeared in the NCAA tournament 29 times, including a total of six Final Four appearances. Under Eddie Sutton, the team made two Final Four appearances in 1995 and again in 2004. In 2005, Oklahoma State officials announced the OSU basketball court would be named after Sutton, which it is today.
Oklahoma State first fielded a women's team during the 1972-1973 season. The Cowgirls have been to 17 NCAA tournaments, and have made 3 Sweet 16s. In 2012, Oklahoma State defeated James Madison 75-68 to win the 2012 NIT championship. They have won 3 conference championships, with tournament championships in 1990 and 1991, and a regular season conference championship in 1991.
Baseball
Oklahoma State won their only national championship in 1959, but have finished runner-up on five other occasions. Overall, the Cowboys have reached the NCAA baseball tournament 49 times and made 20 College World Series appearances, including seven straight trips to Omaha from 1981 to 1987. Oklahoma State has also won 26 conference tournament titles to go along with 25 regular season conference titles, including 16 consecutive conference championships (1981-1996) under head coach Gary Ward in the Big 8 Conference.
Cross Country
Oklahoma State men's cross country is one of the most illustrious cross country programs in the nation, winning NCAA national championships in 1954, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2023 and 2025. In addition to the 6 NCAA championships, OSU cross country has won 18 conference titles, including 9 straight Big 12 titles from 2008-16, with their most recent title coming in 2025. 13 individual conference champion runners have come from Oklahoma State, including Brian Musau in 2023 and 2024. The OSU cross country program has also produced 68 All-American runners.
The Oklahoma State women's cross country program has been a powerhouse in recent years, winning Big 12 conference titles in 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2022 to go along with their 1986 Big 8 conference title. There have been 7 Cowgirls who have been crowned individual Big 12 champion, with Taylor Roe becoming the first Big 12 individual conference champion from OSU when she won in 2023, breaking a 34 year drought. At the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Oklahoma State claimed a 3rd place finish, only 33 points behind the winners, the best finish ever for the women's cross country team. 24 Cowgirls have won the All-American award, and 2 Olympians have hailed from OSU.
Equestrian
Oklahoma State women's equestrian competes in the Big 12 conference, alongside Baylor, Fresno State, and TCU. The Cowgirl equestrian team has had major success in recent years, winning 11 conference titles (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). They have also had NCEA title success, winning 5 NCEA Western national titles in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2013. However, they were unable to win the overall national title until 2022, when they defeated Texas A&M 11-9 to claim their first NCEA Dual Discipline national title.
Football
The 1945 Oklahoma A&M team was retroactively awarded the AFCA national championship and The Coaches' Trophy in October 2016 by the American Football Coaches Association. The Aggies finished with a 9-0 record, completing the season with a 33-13 win over St. Mary's College in the Sugar Bowl.
The Cowboys have won 11 conference championships, along with victories in 3 Fiesta Bowls, 1 Sugar Bowl, and 1 Cotton Bowl. The current head coach is Doug Meacham, who was named interim head coach after Mike Gundy was fired following the Cowboys' home loss to Tulsa in the team's third game of the 2025 season. Gundy ended his OK State career with an overall record of 170-90 and a 12-6 record in bowl appearances. During Gundy's coaching career, the Cowboys enjoyed ten 9+ win seasons. Gundy coached the team to a record 12-win season in 2011, culminating with a Fiesta Bowl victory over Stanford, and ten years later led Oklahoma State to another 12-win season and Fiesta Bowl victory, this time over Notre Dame. His accolades consist of the 2011 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, 2011 Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year, and the 2011 American Football Monthly National Coach of the Year.
Golf
The Oklahoma State men's golf program is one of the most illustrious in the country, having won 12 NCAA national championships in 1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2018 and 2025. In addition, 9 Oklahoma State golfers have won individual national championships, (Earl Moeller in 1953, Grier Jones in 1968, David Edwards in 1978, Scott Verplank in 1986, Brian Watts in 1987, E. J. Karsten Creek serves as the home course of the Oklahoma State University men's golf team.
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, 2011, and 2018. The women's program has also had its share of success. The Cowgirls have made 26 NCAA Championship appearances, with their best results being runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2021. In addition, Oklahoma State women's golf has won 25 conference titles, including 11 Big 12 championships, the most in the conference. Individually, 30 Cowgirl golfers have received All-American honors.
Softball
Oklahoma State's softball team has appeared in sixteen Women's College World Series, in 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982 (AIAW), 1982 (NCAA), 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 1982, the Cowgirls played in both the last AIAW WCWS and days later the first NCAA WCWS. In addition to national success, Oklahoma State softball has won 9 regular season conference titles and won the 2022 Big 12 tournament title over rival Oklahoma.
Tennis
The Oklahoma State men's tennis program has won 24 total conference championships, with 21 coming from the Big 8 conference. The Cowboys have been to 26 NCAA Tournaments, with the most recent appearance being in 2024. Their highest final ITA ranking was 11th, which was achieved in the 2006-07 season. The Cowboys also boast having 20 All-Americans and 40 individual Big 12 Champions.
The Oklahoma State women's tennis program has won 30 total conference championships, including eight Big 12 titles. The Cowgirls have been to 26 NCAA Tournaments, with the most recent appearance being in 2025. The Cowgirls boast having 24 All-Americans and 28 individual Big 12 Champions. In 2016, OSU made it to the national championship match against Stanford, where they fell 4-3.
Track and Field
The Oklahoma State Men's Indoor Track and Field team has won the Big 12 conference title twice, in 2014 and 2016. The Oklahoma State Men's Outdoor Track and Field team has won 20 conference titles, all coming during their time in the Missouri Valley Conference. 16 Cowboys have won individual NCAA titles, and Oklahoma State has been to 53 NCAA Men's Outdoor Championships, with their best result being a 5th place finish in 1959.
The Oklahoma State Women's Indoor Track and Field team won their first conference championship in 2023, scoring 146 points to win the Big 12 title. The Oklahoma State Women's Outdoor Track and Field team has never won a conference title, however 3 Cowgirls have won individual NCAA titles, and Oklahoma State has been to 24 NCAA Women's Outdoor Championships, with their best result being a 12th place finish in 2016.
Wrestling
Oklahoma State wrestling's tradition started in 1916 when Edward C. Gallagher, whose name is part of Gallagher-Iba Arena, became head coach. After Gallagher's 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. 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 and 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.
Oklahoma State University Hockey
The current Oklahoma State hockey team was established in the fall of 2021, and they compete as members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The Cowboys take part in annual matches against the Oklahoma Sooners in the “Bedlam on Ice” series.
Founded in 1974, the Oklahoma State University Rugby Football Club plays college rugby in the Division 1 Heart of America conference against several of its traditional Big 8 / Big 12 rivals. The Cowboys are led by head coach Miles Hunter.
Gallagher-Iba Arena at Oklahoma State University