A Look at OSU’s and Virginia Tech’s Bowl History, Pokes Have Third-Best Record Ever

Bowl games can represent a lot of different things based on the type of season they cap off and the send-off they provide to a senior class.

In the case of Oklahoma State’s 2017 postseason matchup, the Camping World Bowl provides a small consolation for a team that held playoff aspirations and serves as a subdued backdrop for a curtain call for probably the best senior class to make its home in Stillwater, America.

On the other side, you have Virginia Tech.

While one fan base is letting out an audible sigh after a disappointing season and another bout of wandering eyes from its head coach, the other is in Year 2 of the Justin Fuente era. One is looking for a 10th win in back-to-back seasons for the first time in seven years. The other has come to expect those and saw this season as its best chance at something more.

While it’s definitely not the bowl game we expected or hoped for, the matchup with a Virginia Tech is solid and there are worse places to spend New Year’s weekend than Orlando.

Let’s look at some of the pertinent numbers ahead of the first-time postseason matchup between the two schools.

Polls and Participation

The rankings for each team are pretty consistent across the board, with only the CFP committee thinking slightly less of OSU.

The No. 17 Cowboys will play “host” to the No. 22-ranked Hokies in Orlando, just under 1,300 miles southeast of Stillwater and roughly 700 miles south of Blacksburg, Virginia.

Depending on how fired up Cowboy nation is for a December Disney World trip, you’d expect the Hokies to have a stronger show of support in the Sunshine State.

Bowl Records

The Cowboys and Hokies have gone to 27 and 30 bowls respectively, but the Cowboys have been considerably more successful in postseason play.

OSU’s all-time bowl record: 17-10 (.630)
Under Mike Gundy: 7-4 (.636)
OSU’s bowl record against ACC: 1-1 (Both against Florida State)

VT’s all-time bowl record: 13-17 (.433)
Under Justin Fuente: 1-0 (1.00)
VT’s bowl record against Big 12: 0-2 (including Nebraska in 1996)

Of teams that have played at least 25 bowl games, only USC and Ole Miss have a better bowl record than Oklahoma State.

Head-to-Head History

These two schools have performed the Hokie-Pokie just twice, back in 1971 and 1972. The Cowboys won 24-16 in Stillwater and the Hokies got revenge a year later 34-32 in Blacksburg.

Camping World Bowl history

This will be the Cowboys’ first appearance in the Camping World Bowl franchise. OSU played in the 1976 Tangerine Bowl, which was also briefly the name of the now Camping World Bowl, but those are separate bowls altogether. The Tangerine Bowl OSU appeared in is now the Citrus Bowl.

Virginia Tech has appeared once, defeating Rutgers 13-10 in overtime of the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl, the bowl’s previous sponsor.

Oklahoma State bowl history