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| Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl Champions T-Shirts & Gear OSU Conference Champs T-Shirts, Hats and Merchandise Now Available Also discover the University's traditions surrounding its nickname, the Heisman Trophy and more! |
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Oklahoma State Nickname Story:
Once Compared to the Princeton Tigers
When Oklahoma A&M was established in the newly-formed Oklahoma
territory
in 1890, each class in the new college thought it would be entertaining to
choose its own colors and write its own vivacious yells and songs for
interclass rivalries. But one day, the students in Professor George Holter's
chemistry class selected orange and black as the colors for the college as a
whole.
That done, they also nicknamed the student body the "Tigers." This was a
reflection of the admiration held by some that knew where Princeton was,
much less its nickname and traditions. Unlikely as a tiger on the prairie
might be, the nickname gave the young school a needed sense of identity.
Later newspapers would even refer to the college as "The Princeton of the
West." In the fall of 1909 a concerted push was on to establish the Tiger
nickname. Football jerseys were black with orange-striped sleeves, echoing
the Princeton Tigers' famous uniforms. To bolster the image, the Varsity
store presented a 7-foot banner on which a crouching tiger held a football in
its paws. But an exotic jungle beast as a mascot or nickname still made little
sense to students and fans alike and the nickname never really caught on.
The Transition to Cowboys
From the 1890s on, Oklahoma A&M sports teams had been referred to as
the
Agriculturists or Aggies, the Farmers, and officially but unpopularly, the
Tigers. But by 1924 Charles Saulsberry, sports editor of the Oklahoma City
Times, and other writers who regularly covered college events began to refer
to Stillwater's teams as the Cowboys
Once Compared to the Princeton Tigers
When Oklahoma A&M was established in the newly-formed Oklahoma
territory
in 1890, each class in the new college thought it would be entertaining to
choose its own colors and write its own vivacious yells and songs for
interclass rivalries. But one day, the students in Professor George Holter's
chemistry class selected orange and black as the colors for the college as a
whole.
That done, they also nicknamed the student body the "Tigers." This was a
reflection of the admiration held by some that knew where Princeton was,
much less its nickname and traditions. Unlikely as a tiger on the prairie
might be, the nickname gave the young school a needed sense of identity.
Later newspapers would even refer to the college as "The Princeton of the
West." In the fall of 1909 a concerted push was on to establish the Tiger
nickname. Football jerseys were black with orange-striped sleeves, echoing
the Princeton Tigers' famous uniforms. To bolster the image, the Varsity
store presented a 7-foot banner on which a crouching tiger held a football in
its paws. But an exotic jungle beast as a mascot or nickname still made little
sense to students and fans alike and the nickname never really caught on.
The Transition to Cowboys
From the 1890s on, Oklahoma A&M sports teams had been referred to as
the
Agriculturists or Aggies, the Farmers, and officially but unpopularly, the
Tigers. But by 1924 Charles Saulsberry, sports editor of the Oklahoma City
Times, and other writers who regularly covered college events began to refer
to Stillwater's teams as the Cowboys
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