STILLWATER, Okla. – 

“I’M A MAN, I’M 40”, just recently took on a whole new meaning for the Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Program. Even casual college football fans have heard Mike Gundy’s infamous “I’m 40!” rant. Though 40 year-old, Oklahoma State fan, Trent Eaton, doubled down on Gundy’s rant and, instead of harping on Jenni Carlson and The Oklahoman, Eaton, who removed his shirt, started a national “shirts-off” movement across college football. 

Per News Channel 9 (OKC) article, the 40 year-old Oklahoma State fan was dared or bet $10 dollars, by his sister, to journey to, then, empty Section 231 of Boone Pickens Stadium, take off his shirt, and began twirling it around. At that point, Oklahoma State was down by a big margin against the Houston Wildcats. 

Per Eaton, “I made a remark saying, ‘Look over there…There’s about four sections that are completely empty. Then a couple seconds later, she’s like, ‘I’ll give you $10 dollars if you go over there, take your shirt off, and wave it.’ I said, ‘Okay’”. What grew as a few soon turned into hundreds of Oklahoma State fans, “tarps off”, waving their shirts and, unknowingly, creating a nation-wide shirts off movement. Oklahoma State went as far as renaming Section 231 to Section Two-Shirty-One for the Homecoming game against Cincinnati. ESPN named that Oklahoma State fan section the “Fans Of The Week” that week. A Taco Bell’s Live Mas Student Section of Year can now be considered for the Loyal & True. 

Shirtless Eaton went on to say, “At first, I thought I was going to be the only one, but then somebody else showed up, then more people showed up, then more people showed up, then once it actually started taking off, it was just fun to be a part of.”

His sister that dared or bet him commented something all Oklahoma State fans have been thinking these past two football seasons, saying “I’m glad that there’s something good coming back to OSU, some fame for something that’s fun and nice and just having a good time and not some of the bad things that have been happening to us this year.”

Is it a coincidence that the shirtless Section 231 starter has the last name Eaton? If you’re familiar…Oklahoma State mascot, Pistol Pete, is based off of a real life U.S. Marshall, Frank Eaton, who is buried in a cemetery in Perry, Oklahoma, which is right outside of Stillwater. Regarding the viral moment, Eaton went on to say that “whether the day is going good or day is going bad, if you can make somebody else smile, make somebody else laugh, whether at you or with you, as long as it’s all in good fun, it will make their day better and then move on and just be a better person about it.” 

In a season where Oklahoma State football has been down bad, I begin to wonder if that viral moment can continue to live on through just the football season. 

Men’s Basketball Head Coach, Steve Lutz, looks to have a promising season inside the walls of Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Lutz led Pokes have already surpassed initial expectations by beating the Auburn Tigers at a relatively neutral site, albeit it being an exhibition game. 

With an Oklahoma State sports fan base starving for any signs of success, Oklahoma State Basketball, both men’s and women’s, need to keep encouraging the fan engagement that Oklahoma State football has seen, despite their despair. You have a banana conga line and a shirts off section that went viral for a team that hasn’t won a conference game in almost two years. This should be a relatively easy PR scheme to make Gallagher-Iba Arena the place to be again. It’s time to make Gallagher-Iba rowdy again! Older Millennials remember Scott Pierce’s Toothless in Seattle, we remember Big Country, we remember JamesOn Curry, we remember Byron Eaton’s shot, we remember Eddie Sutton, we remember Markel Brown getting ejected after dunking on Mizzou’s Phil Pressey’s head. It was rocking. It was rowdy. Even under Travis Ford, god forbid.

 Former Oklahoma State Men’s Basketball coach, Mike Boynton Jr., did his best to get  students and fans back into G-Iba. Boynton went as far as buying tickets for the first number of fans who showed up to the doors. There is absolutely no reason that fan engagement cannot be translated to the building next to Boone Pickens Stadium, especially when the basketball teams’ success will be exponentially better than their football counterparts. 

If Oklahoma State students and fans are as serious as their “viral moment” for football, they’ll continue the hype for Lutz and Hoyt going into the 2025-2026 basketball season, a season that could see both men’s and women’s teams make the Big Dance. Cowgirls head coach, Jacie Hoyt helped the Oklahoma State women’s team make the NCAA tournament last year but lost in the first round. Lutz formerly coached at Western Kentucky and is in his second year as Oklahoma State Men’s basketball head coach and is looking for his first invite to the Dance since becoming the Cowboys head coach. 

I believe both teams have the ability to make the NCAA Tournament this season, and, I can guarantee you, both men’s and women’s teams would love to see the banana conga line in Gallagher-Iba this year.

Make it happen.