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Defend the Hell out of GIA and Bring Back the Rowdy

I don’t care how bad you think our basketball team is. I don’t care how bad you think the Cowboys are going to get beat tonight. And I certainly don’t care that Travis Ford is the coach. Go to Bedlam tonight.

By Gmartinchavez12
Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Once upon a time, before the Ford era, Gallagher Iba Arena used to be the rowdiest arena in the country. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and just Google search "rowdiest arena in the country." The first thing that pops up is Gallagher Iba. This was a place where opponents' dreams come to die. Teams used to fear traveling to Stillwater, and fans made "The Madison Square Garden of the Plains" truly hell on ears.

My favorite moment at Gallagher Iba Arena took place on January 16, 2007. Oklahoma State vs Texas. The 12th ranked Cowboys were led by Mario Boggan and Byron Eaton, while the 21st ranked Longhorns had some freshman named Kevin Durant. It was the craziest college basketball game I’ve ever seen, filled with crazy plays and memories that will last a lifetime. I remember the sound of GIA when Eaton made that famous half court shot while falling out of bounds to beat the shot clock. And what about Boggan’s go-ahead three that put OSU up by two in triple overtime? The exhilaration that the students and players felt after storming the court when the marathon game was finally over was truly one to remember.

Or how about this one? It was just four short seasons ago, when the 9-10 Cowboys played host to the second ranked Missouri Tigers. The Cowboys were having an even worse year than they are currently, but the students brought the rowdy and the Pokes hung on for a 79-72 upset. Markel Brown led off the game with an SC Top 10 dunk, and then was later ejected on the dunk of the year. Before the ejection, GIA was absolutely nuts. The only thing you could hear were 10,000 passionate fans screaming their heads off in appreciation of what they were seeing. When the Cowboys closed out Mizzou, the fans once again rushed the court in their season defining win.

Not a fan of either of those examples? How about the Kansas game in 2008, when the Pokes knocked off the #1 Jayhawks? Or any Kansas game at Gallagher Iba the past three seasons, for that matter. Year in and year out, the best teams in the nation struggle to win here. There is a reason people call it "Mr. Iba’s House of Horrors." GIA should frighten the hell out of anyone that comes here.

Especially second ranked Oklahoma. The Sooners are feeling pretty confident that they’re going to come in here and stripe the arena. They think there is going to be more Sooner fans in attendance than Cowboys. There is no way on God’s green earth that’s going to happen. This is a challenge for all Oklahoma State fans. After the Jayhawks’ loss at West Virginia last night, the only thing standing in the way of Oklahoma being the new number one team in the nation, is lil ol’ Okie Lite. Are you prepared to live in a world where Oklahoma is the best in the nation in basketball and a top five team in football? If you can’t get pumped out of your freaking mind for this game, I don’t know what to tell you. Do your part in making Gallagher Iba Arena complete and utter bedlam tonight.

After all, there’s nothing sweeter than Sooner tears.

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