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Yeah, good times. We have had a Top 25 recruiting class every year with the 1 exception being 2005, when it was 41st. Of course, it is not top 5 yearly like UT, but let's be honest we aren't at the level of competing with UT/uo, we are compeing with atm and tek. Even after Goodson was let go, OSU had a better class, numerically of course, than every team not UT/uo. This year's class will be small, and very targeted.
Our facilities are 2nd to none, and still getting better. We are nationally ranked and compete for les yearly in many sports. We have more les in all of sports han any other B12 school (winning 2 more last year). We have won a le in just about every conceivable sport we compete in, except football. not saying we will ever get one, but this program can easily become akin to a Va Tech, being of major import yearly. When you get to that point, anything is possible. We have an Alum coach who isn't going anywhere. He is bringing back guys he played with and of his era (All Americans Sanders, Thomas, O'Neal, Moore have all made locker room pep talks). The days of us being afraid of bigger, more traditional teams is gone. Used to be the day that uo and Neb had a 14 point edge on a team the moment they walked on the field because of the intimidation factor; not anymore. We had 1 win in 28 years vs uo. Since then we have 5 of the past 11 during the years they played for 3 BCS les (if not for OSU they would have played for at least 2 more). We had not beaten Neb since 1962. Now we have won 2 of the last 3. We had not beaten atm since 1988. Now we have won 2 of the past 5. UT is the one team we haven't beaten (since 1997), and even them we have had down at the half several times before monumental collaspes. Playing in the toughest division in football certainly doesn't help I might add.
While OSU oesn't always fully sell out home games, we are a tremendous road draw. We travel very well wherever we go, and thus are a vauled commodity to Bowl people. To aid in recruiting, we yearly travel to a road game in hot recruiting areas for us (Houston, SMU, Rice, Tulsa). Also, many big programs won't do home-at-homes with small schools. They sign the small schools to only come there. OSU takes a diff approach. They have been doing many 2-for-1s, and going to play at the small school or at the very least a neutral site. The Ark State game was played at a neutral site (War Memorial in Little Rock), OSU sold half the stadium. Ark State signed a 2-for-1. We played Florida Atl at Dolphins' Stadium and got a 2-for-1 with them. We played La Tech at the Independence Bowl in a 2-or-1. Believe it or not, I am pretty sure we got Houston in a 2-for-1. We got Rice in a 2-for-1, but they are trying to get out of it now.
We don't have 40k bandwagon, nonalum type fans like our evil red headed step sister to the south, but we have a very hard core passionate fan base that supports all sports. Anyone go to the girl's soccer tourney here in town and see all the OSU Orange? That's another thing I really dig about OSU. You go to the game - you wear Orange. You don't dress up and look all pretty to show off to everyone; you wear Orange. Every Friday, any day of the year, is Orange Friday. I can't remember when I haven't called it that. Ok, so it's not the koolaid they drink down in the Cult of Bryant, but we don't have the tradition they have, either (or the cute male yellers in those spiffy overalls showing them what to say the night before). We don't even have an over .500 record in the history of our program. But everyone has to start somewhere. I believe we are doing a dern spiffy job.
