1945 vs. 1988: What Was the Greatest Year in Oklahoma State Athletics History?

A big portion of my job involves digging through Oklahoma State’s various media guides, and of late, it seems like a keep seeing a number: 1988.

That year, in Oklahoma State lore, is best known because Barry Sanders had the greatest season in college football history, but he wasn’t the only OSU athlete shining in ’88.

In my recent tracking of Kollin Ritchie climbing OSU’s season home run chart, I learned that Monty Farris hit 30 homers in 1988 — now tied for the third-most in a season in OSU’s history.

As 1988 has popped up a few more times, it had me (someone born in 1995) wondering — was that OSU’s greatest athletic year to date? As I started thinking about other years that could compete, the other best year I could come up with was 1945 when OSU won national titles in football (sorta after the fact) and men’s basketball in the same year.

So, I’ve spent my morning diving through both years in OSU athletics. Here are my findings.

1988

Football: We’ll start with the obvious: Barry Sanders won the Heisman Trophy. He’s the only OSU football player to ever accomplish the feat, and he did so while putting together what many consider to be the greatest college season of all-time.

He accounted for 264 points — 102 more than anyone else had in a season in program history. He scored 44 touchdowns — 17 more than any other Cowboy. He ran for 2,850 yards — the most ever, OSU or otherwise.

OSU went 10-2 that season under Pat Jones, one of the program’s best seasons to that point. The Cowboys scored 584 points, the fourth-most in program history. That’s especially impressive  given the offensive boom of the 2010s. The 78 touchdowns the Cowboys scored that year are still the second-most they’ve ever scored, and the 6,365 total yards still ranks seventh in program history.

Hart Lee Dykes joined Sanders as an All-American, while Mike Gundy threw for 21 passing TDs, which at the time was a program record.

Baseball: The Cowboys won 61 games and a Big Eight title in 1988. They had three All-Americans: Monty Fariss, Tim Pugh and Robin Ventura.

Ventura had 100 hits, which is tied for 10th in program history. Fariss had 114 RBIs, good for second in program history. Pugh had 14 wins, tied for second in program history. Oh, and Ventura won Olympic gold that year, as well.

OSU’s Regional that year featured three of the top 10 crowds in Allie P. Reynolds’ history.

Wrestling: Speaking of Olympic gold, John Smith won that and an NCAA title in 1988. Kenny Monday wasn’t in college anymore, but he too won Olympic gold in 1988.

OSU also had seven All-Americans that year: Smith, Chris Barnes, Cory Baze, Kendall Cross, Mike Farrell, Laurence Jackson and Wes White.

Softball: This was also an elite year for the Cowgirl softball program, winning 51 games — the most in program history.

That team featured three All-Americans in Michele Smith, Dee Brewer and Shari Johnson. All three of their 1988 seasons still rank in the Top 20 in batting average in program history. Smith also had 218 strikeouts from the circle, the 15th-most in program history, and her 16 shutouts that season rank fourth.

Then Dena Carter, a freshman that season, had a 0.35 ERA, which ranks tops in program history among pitchers who threw at least 100 innings.

Men’s Golf: EJ Pfister won an individual national championship, and the Cowboys won the Big Eight.

Women’s Cross-Country: Cowgirls Sonia Barry and Jackie Goodman were All-Americans, finishing third and fourth, respectively, at the national meet.

Women’s Tennis: Jane Wood and Monika Waniek were both All-Americans, and the Cowgirls won the Big Eight regular season and conference tournament.

Women’s Golf: The Cowgirls won the Big Eight, while Eva Dahloff won an individual conference title and was an All-American.

Men’s Basketball: There isn’t a ton to report on basketball from 1988. The Cowboys had a losing record, but Richard Dumas scored 512 points, the 35th most in program history, ranking second among freshmen.

1945

There weren’t as many sports going on in 1945 because they hadn’t made it to campus quite yet or, as was the case with baseball, there was the little thing called World War II going on. So, baseball didn’t even play in 1945.

But there is something to be said about winning national titles in what to this day are still considered the two biggest college sports.

Basketball: Henry Iba’s squad went back-to-back in 1945 and 1946, winning the Missouri Valley both of those seasons, as well.

Bob Kurland was the team’s star man, being an All-American both seasons. His 529 points in 44-45 rank 30th in program history, while his 643 points in 45-46 are the ninth-most.

Football: OSU went 9-0 under Jim Lookabaugh this season, later claiming the national title. OSU also won the Missouri Valley that season while Bob Fenimore and Neill Armstrong were both named All-Americans.

Conclusion

If you’re asking me which I would’ve rather been in school for (taking WWII out of account), I think I’m going with 1988.

There was greatness all over the campus that year, and while that year might’ve not had the high-level team success of 1945, watching Barry and John Smith live and in color would’ve been enough on its own for me. And even the sports that don’t always get all the pub had something cool going on.

What do you think — 1945 or 1988?