oklahoma state

Oklahoma State Capitol

The Oklahoma State Capitol building in Oklahoma City is the state of Oklahoma’s seat of government. the chambers of the Oklahoma Legislature are located here as are the oil rigs on the grounds, giving the Oklahoma State Capital the reputation of being the only state capital grounds having active oil rigs in the United States, with the capitol building located atop the OKC Oil Field.

The Oklahoma State Capitol is also home to over 100 works of art that include bronze sculptures, murals, paintings and portraits. interestingly, there is a recorded story behind every work of art. the permanent collection of bronze sculptures contains works from sculptors such as Constance Whitney Warren, Leonard McMurray, Allan Houser (Haozous), Harold T. Holden, Enoch Kelly Haney, Sandra Van Zandt and Jo Saylors. the permanent collection of murals and paintings contains works of artists including Mike Larsen, Charles Banks Wilson, Jeff Dodd, Thomas Gilbert White, Mike Wimmer and Wilson Hurley.

The paintings generally depict an important event in the history of OK. an example is the painting of President Roosevelt signing the document that granted statehood to Oklahoma, making it the 46th state. Portraits include that of Sequoyah, the Cherokee statesman who invented the Cherokee syllabary, and that of Benjamin Harrison Hill, the African American pastor, teacher and journalist who was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1968.

A visit to the Oklahoma State Capitol would prove to be a vital history lesson for visitors, an opportunity to catch up on the origins of OK. Hotels arrange shuttle services to the Oklahoma State Capitol and the other attractions in OKC.

Cowboys rout rivals, make case for BCS

STILLWATER, Okla. — Mike Gundy didn’t feel comfortable campaigning for no. 3 Oklahoma State to play for the national title until his Cowboys at least had won a conference crown.

His team made a better case than anything he could have ever said.

Joseph Randle ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, Richetti Jones returned a fumble for a score, and no. 3 Oklahoma State throttled no. 13 Oklahoma 44-10 on Saturday night to win the big 12 championship and make its case to play for the BCS national title.

“I don’t think there’s any question Oklahoma State should play in the big game,” Gundy said.

The Cowboys (11-1, 8-1 big 12) snapped an eight-game losing streak in the Bedlam rivalry and won their first outright conference title since 1948, in the three-team Missouri Valley.

Oklahoma State’s defense, badmouthed much of the season while giving up big yardage but leading the nation in takeaways, forced the Sooners into five turnovers – four of them by quarterback Landry Jones.

Fans started chanting “L-S-U!” midway through the fourth quarter with the victory well in hand, then stormed the field and tore down the goalposts when it was over.

The top-ranked Tigers could be next up for the Pokes, but only with a boost in the BCS standings due out Sunday night.

“We took care of what we could take care of,” quarterback Brandon Weeden said.

While the top-ranked Tigers won the SEC championship Saturday to lock up a spot in the BCS title game, no. 2 Alabama sat at home idle after finishing second in its division. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, proved itself the best team in its state and its conference. but it’s up to the voters, who had the Cowboys fifth in the coaches’ poll and Harris poll, to decide whether Oklahoma State will play for the highest stakes.

The Tide’s only loss was at home in overtime to LSU.

“They had their shot,” Gundy said. “Give us ours.”

This article appeared on page B – 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

One Model Says Oklahoma State Still Has A Shot At BCS Championship

Last week, it looked like Oklahoma State’s only shot at playing in the BCS Championship game would be if second-ranked Alabama lost to Auburn. But thanks to Arkansas’ free-fall in the BCS rankings, Oklahoma State is still alive.

According to a BCS prediction model produced by the Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective Oklahoma State will leapfrog Alabama, and play for the BCS Championship if they can beat Oklahoma on Saturday.

Despite beating Auburn convincingly, Alabama’s BCS score was hurt by the loss of Arkansas, who fell all the way to eighth in the BCS rankings. That helped Oklahoma State narrow the gap. The authors also speculate that voters might be showing bias against an LSU-Alabama rematch.

They do caution that the confidence intervals for Alabama and Oklahoma State do overlap, which reduces the confidence in the prediction. 

But at the very least, the model shows that an Alabama-LSU rematch in the BCS title game is not a foregone conclusion.

LEEInks » Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach killed in plane crash

Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were two of four people killed in a plane crash in Arkansas while on a recruiting trip, the school announced Friday. The plane crashed Thursday night near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. The pilot and another passenger also died.

Budke, 50, had coached the team since 2005, with Serna as his assistant all six-plus seasons. he guided the Cowgirls to a 96-60 over Rice in the season-opener Sunday.

The school canceled two games scheduled for this weekend.

Associate head coach Jim Littell will take over as interim coach.

“We are shocked by this terrible loss,” OSU vice president for athletics Mike Holder said in a release. “Kurt Budke was an incredibly positive influence on his players and was a tremendous coach. he quickly turned our program around and put Cowgirl basketball on the map.”

This is the second airplane tragedy for the school this century. In 2001, 10 individuals associated with the OSU men’s basketball team, including two players, died in a crash in Colorado in 2001.