Forty-Seven Straight: The Wilkinson Era at Oklahoma

Football tradition at the University of Oklahoma still runs strong as does the record of forty-seven consecutive victories that legendary coach Bud Wilkinson and his players set in the 1950s. Approached but never equaled by teams such as Washington Miami and Texas the streak contributed to the acclaim Wilkinson garnered by amassing an impressive three national championships (1950 1955 and 1956) twelve consecutive conference titles twenty-three straight wins on opposing fields Top Ten rankings for eleven successive years and a thirty-one game winning streak before the unforgettable forty-seven straight. Forty-seven Straight details how the record grew season by season as told by sixty-one of Wilkinson s players during interviews with Harold Keith the university s sports publicist who witnessed all 178 football games during the Wilkinson era at OU. The players recall Wilkinson s and his staff s style methods and strategies while vividly recalling their most dramatic games. The scholastic integrity of Wilkinson s program which included high academic standards and graduation rates produced a successful group of career-minded players.