Oklahoma State vs Texas A&M: Cowboys Look for Biggest Win in School History

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy will lead his No. 7 Cowboys into Saturday's battle in College Station against No. 8 Texas A&M with a chance to grab the biggest win in school history.

A win on the road against the Aggies would mean the Cowboys would have a reason to start talking BCS. A Bedlam battle with No. 1 Oklahoma would be the only thing keeping OSU from a Big 12 title and a chance to play for the program's first national championship.

Winning a Bedlam game featuring two undefeated teams would definitely be a bigger win, but you can't put the cart before the horse. Without a win over the soon-to-be SEC team, the Bedlam game would lose some of it's luster.

In order to find a win that would even come close to matching the importance of this match-up, you would have to look as far back as 1945. The 1944-45 Oklahoma A&M teams went 17-1 over two seasons. In the '45 season College Football Hall of Famer Bob Fenimore, who led the nation in rushing (1,048) and set a school record for interceptions (18), helped the Cowboys to a 9-0 record. A 33-13 win over No. 7 Saint Mary's was undoubtedly a huge win and capped off the undefeated season.

Though undefeated, that Cowboys team did not win a national championship. The 2011 edition of Cowboy football, featuring one of the nation's top QB/WR combo's in Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon, came into the season with high expectations and the talent to meet them.

A win over the Aggies could possibly move the Cowboys into a top five ranking. That's high enough to consider Gundy's squad a true national title contender.

It's not as if Oklahoma State has not played in some big games or even pulled out some big wins in the past.

In 1984 the Cowboys clinched the school's first 10 win season with a big 21-14 win over South Carolina in the Gator Bowl.

Nobody will forget last season's epic Bedlam shootout when Oklahoma State hosted the Sooners with a trip to the Big 12 Championship at stake. The Cowboys lost a close one 47-41.

The 1976 Cowboys went 9-3 and used a 31-24 road win over No. 5 Oklahoma to claim a share of the Big 8 title. According to an OSU graduate who was a freshman in '76, that win led to one heck of a party.

There's more on the line this season for the Cowboys than ever before. A victory on the road Saturday in front of a rowdy 12th Man would bring Stillwater to a fever pitch and could lead to a party big enough to make the '76 get-together look like a study session. Finally, OSU fans would get a taste of what it's like to experience the hype and drama of a title run.

Boone Pickens has provided Oklahoma State with everything they need to compete with the big boys. We just might get to see if it's possible for one man to buy a national championship. There's just one problem: Oklahoma.