News Release

Dec. 14, 2006

FIESTA FEVER: In anticipation of the upcoming Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Boise State University’s Office of Communications has identified story ideas that would be of interest to the community. Following is one of these stories. Feel free to use as written, or contact the sources listed at the bottom for more information.

Compare and Contrast: Boise State and the University of Oklahoma

Both have colorful histories rooted in a sense of place, both have presidents who are former elected officials, both have award-winning faculty — and both have equine mascots. While there’s plenty that separates Boise State University and the University of Oklahoma (including 1,156 miles “as the crow flies”) the universities also have a few things in common. As excitement grows for the Fiesta Bowl, here are a few facts about each institution:

Presidents:
BSU: Bob Kustra became the university’s sixth president in 2003. He has a long and distinguished history in public service, including two terms as lieutenant governor of Illinois and 10 years in the Illinois House and Senate.
OU: David L. Boren became OU’s 13th president in 1994. He served as governor of Oklahoma from 1975-1979 and U.S. senator from Oklahoma from 1979-1994.

University History:
BSU: 75 years old in 2007: Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church as Boise Junior College; attained 4-year status in 1965; moved to state system of higher education in 1969; gained university status in 1974
OU: 117 years old in 2007: Established in 1890 by the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature

Mascot:
BSU: Broncos
OU: Sooners

Mascot history:
BSU: In 1932, several students gathered after a basketball practice at what was then Boise Junior College and decided the college needed a mascot and colors. They chose the Bronco because, as student Owen Sproat recalled in a 1990 interview, “most of the guys rode horses — it was pretty much cattle country in those days.” When the coaches, administration and students approved the choice, it became official.
OU: The Oklahoma Territory opened with the Land Run of 1889; one of the few rules to claiming a lot of land was that all participants were to start at the same time. Those who went too soon were
called “Sooners,” and the name came to mean a “can-do” individual. OU adopted the name in 1908, deriving it from a pep club called “The Sooner Rooters.”

Live mascots at home games:
BSU: A horse named “Whiskey” from the BSU Rodeo Club rallies Bronco fans by galloping along the sidelines every time the Broncos score a touchdown.
OU: Pulling the “Sooner Schooner,” a covered wagon, are matching white ponies named “Boomer” and “Sooner.”

Costumed mascots:
BSU: Buster Bronco
OU: Boomer and Sooner “ponies”

Colors:
BSU: Blue and Orange
OU: Crimson and Cream

Colors history:
BSU: At the same time when they picked the Bronco for the school’s mascot back in 1932, Preston Hale and friends decided orange and blue should be the school colors because they wanted to come up with something different than their rivals. “Boise Junior College was pretty small then,” Hale said in a 1990 interview. “We didn’t realize the impact the decision would have.”
OU: In the fall of 1895, Miss May Overstreet, the only woman on the faculty, was asked to chair a committee to select the colors of the university. The committee decided the colors should be crimson and cream and an elaborate display of the colors was draped above a platform before the student body.

Main campus location:
BSU: Boise, Idaho
OU: Norman, Oklahoma

2006 student enrollment:
BSU: 18,876
OU: 29,721

Tuition and fees:
BSU: $5,146 resident; $12,924 non-resident
OU: $5,709.50 resident, $13,998.50 non-resident

Annual operating budget:
BSU: $287 million
OU: $1.2 billion

Foundation assets:
BSU: $97.5 million
OU: $960 million

Annual research and sponsored projects:
BSU: $24 million
OU: $210 million

Annual economic impact on state’s economy:
BSU: $330 million
OU: $1.5 billon

Degree programs offered:
BSU: 97 bachelor’s, 59 master’s, 4 doctorates
OU: 152 bachelor’s, 160 master’s, 80 doctorates

City size:
BSU: Boise: (2000 census) 185,787; median age: 32
OU: Norman (2000 census) 94,694; median age: 29.3

City climate:
Boise: Average January high: 36 F
Average January low: 21 F
Average July high: 90 F
Average July low: 57 F
Norman: Average January high: 47 F
Average January low: 26 F
Average July high: 82 F
Average July low: 71 F

Many more comparisons could be made between the Sooners and the Broncos, but perhaps it’s fitting to end with comparisons of January temperatures which for both universities aren’t exactly inviting. BSU and OU teams and their fans might be pleased to hear this final statistic: The annual high temperature in Phoenix in January is a balmy 66 degrees.

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Media contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications, (208) 426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu

We’re proud to be the home of the undefeated, Fiesta Bowl‑bound Broncos, the national champion student speech and debate team, and the nation's 12th‑ranked engineering program among public, comprehensive universities.
 

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Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007