STILLWATER — The Sugar Bowl was big for Oklahoma A&M's 1945 season.
And it proved big again for the school, this time as Oklahoma State, 71 years later.
When the American Football Coaches Association retroactively awarded A&M/OSU the national championship for 1945, over Associated Press No. 1 Army, the team's Sugar Bowl win over St. Mary's was a factor.
Both OSU and Army finished 9-0, but the Cadets did not play in a bowl game.
“That probably was the difference (with the bowl game),” said Gary Darnell, executive director of the AFCA, who made a stop in Stillwater Monday to discuss OSU's new national title.