Happy Thursday ya’ll. As Coach Gundy mentioned in the video yesterday, there’s something special happening in Stillwater.

The athletics world is taking notice. It’s not just football, basketball, baseball, golf, it’s all sports and the Orange and Black amongst the nation’s best.

That was on display yet again in recent weeks and days. Learn about how the OSU set an all-time high and much more in today’s edition of the Brew.

⚾️ The Boys of Summer
🙌 New Episode of the Old Pokes Show
🏈 Countdown to Kickoff
🤠 And so much more!

🎧 OSU MAX PODCASTS

The Boys Are Back!

That’s right, Deion Imade and Clint Chelf reunite for another new edition of the Old Pokes Show as they round up the week that was for OSU.

The duo knows all about what Boone Pickens means to the Orange and Black and they go in-depth about what his commitment means to the athletic department, but also more importantly, to the University as a whole.

More golf discussion, talking about Marcus Smart’s new home, and much more in this week’s edition of the Old Pokes Show.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Havin’ a Record Year. 46 All-Americans. 23 Big 12 Individual Champions. 6 Big 12 Champions. School Record 10 Academic All-Americans.

What a year it was for OSU and on Wednesday, that got even better as the Cowboys set a new school record by finishing in the top-25 nationally in the final 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup standings.

It marks the first time since the standings were created that the Pokes finished in the top-25 nationally in three straight years. The Learfield Directors' Cup honors institutions having success in all sports in which the NCAA offers a championship, along with FBS football. All sports are weighted equally.

Because Oklahoma State does not sponsor women's volleyball and does not get credit for its performance in equestrian, it has only 17 sports eligible for Learfield Directors' Cup scoring, while most others count points from 19 sports. Operating with a two-sport handicap, Oklahoma State has still finished in the top 25 nationally in each of the last three years and has finished in the top three of the Big 12 in each of the last five years.

🔼 Summer Spots. Fresh cut grass. The crack of the bat. The snap of the ball hitting a new glove. Vendors yelling about peanuts and popcorn. There’s simply nothing better than baseball in the summer.

As some of our Cowboys prepare for next month’s MLB draft, many others are preparing for a run back at another Big 12 title by playing against some of the best in the nation.

The boys are putting their talents on display with 16 different members of the OSU baseball team playing in five different leagues across the country.

We’ve got 9 in the Cape Cod League, four in the Northwoods League, and one each in the Valley, West Coast and Appalachian Leagues.

Keep up with them all summer long!

🔼 Tick, Tick, Tick. You know that saying about a watched pot never boiling? Yeah, well, we’re there. We’re salivating for kickoff!

Get your tailgate menus ready. Get your gear lined up. And make sure you have the tickets.

Cowboy football will be here before we know it!

🔼 And Now There’s Eight. And the march goes on for Eric Dailey Jr, Coach Boynton and the Team USA U19 squad as they moved past China (92-69) in the first round of the bracket stage on Wednesday morning.

For the third straight game, Dailey Jr. scored in double-figures in the victory. In his 68 minutes of total action in the World Cup, he scored 43 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, snagged five steals and blocked four shots. He’s shot 52-percent from the field over that span.

Team USA moves on to take on Japan on Friday morning (time TBD).
 
Fans can follow all the action from the FIBA U19 World Cup at fiba.basketball/world/u19/2023 and watch every game live and on demand at youtube.com/FIBA. 

Before the bracket stage began, OSU Max sat in as Dailey and Coach Boynton (Team USA assistant) talked about the experience and what it’s meant for them to share this time.

🎥: OSU Max: Eric Dailey Jr. and Boynton Talk Team USA U19 Summer

🔼 A Must Read. Many folks around OSU and Stillwater know just how great Viktor Hovland is, not just at golf, but in life.

This year, Hovland is letting the world see his talents on the course, but his personality and heart off of it.

This feature from Golf.com is a MUST READ on our guy. And if you can’t read it now. Bookmark it for later.

🔼 Can I get your number? Before we know it, the Cowboys will be back at Gallagher Arena lighting up the scoreboard and dominating on the hardwood.

As we prepare for the upcoming hoops season, let’s check out the new numbers our guys will be wearing this year.

🔼 She’s A Catch!. With four straight trips to the WCWS under their belts, the Cowgirls are drawing interest from top players from around the country.

Last week, it was Mississippi State infielder Macy Graf who signed to join the Cowgirls.

This week, Coach Kenny Gajewski and OSU landed another big time addition with two-time Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Caroline Hudson headed to Stillwater.

Hudson started 206 games over the past four years at Liberty, where she was sixth in career homers (35), seventh in career RBI (135), tied for seventh in extra-base hits (74), eighth in total bases (326), ninth in slugging percentage (.517). She has also caught four no-hitters, which is tied for the most in program history.

Hudson led Liberty to the first at-large berth into the NCAA Championship in program history and an upset win over No. 2 UCLA that eliminated the Bruins from the tournament on their home field.

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 65 DAYS

The Date: Oct. 10, 1913
Location: The Athletic Field at Oklahoma State

The 1913 OSU football team opened their season with a true nail biter.

Ok, well, maybe not.

While none of us were around 110 years ago to be at “The Athletic Field” (yes, they hadn’t even named the stadium yet), the Cowboys put on a show that day, scoring 65 first half points en route to a 112-3 drubbing of Phillips University.

To this day, it’s the second most points ever scored in a half by the Cowboys.

And no, we don’t have a boxscore to that game and we don’t know if any forward passes were thrown in the contest (first official collegiate forward pass was thrown in 1906 according to reports).

The most? It came just a year later when OSU beat Phillips 134-0 with 88 first half points.

🤔 COWBOY TRIVIA

This year marked the third straight year that OSU ranked in the top-25 in the Learfield standings, a record achievement.

Since the standings started in 1992-93, the Cowboys have finished inside the top-25 nine different times.

Do you know which year was the highest finish for OSU and what the Cowboys finished?

Who’s up to the challenge?

Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🎥 OSU MAX

As we sat and cheered on the Cowgirls softball team on their run to the WCWS, you might have wondered, what’s with the stick horse?

Well, that stick horse has a name, it’s Bullet.

A kind gesture by a Stillwater Elementary School brought to life "Bullet”. It made its first appearance at the Stillwater Regional as he became a celebratory figure for the Cowgirls after runs are scored. Bullet also isn't camera shy making appearances during the post game interviews with ESPN.

Wanna learn more how Bullet came to life? Check out this OSU Max exclusive.

🎥 OSU Max: My Time: How Bullet Came To Life

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 2015-2016 - 13th

A trip to the College World Series capped off a record year back in 2015-16 that saw the Cowboys finish 13th in the Learfield standings. That remains the highest on record for OSU.

Let’s have a great Thursday, y’all!