Our family lived out of state in the mid-60's, so I guess we didn't miss too much. When we moved back in '68, OU was doing better with John McLeod as coach, and had Clifford Ray and Gar Heard as a good front court. I actually remember an OU loss in the NIT because it was OU against Pete Maravich and Co. (LSU). Pete was a human highlight reel, but OU hung with them and lost a close one at the Garden.
We never went to games as a family, because the folks preferred going to wrestling duals. But, I finally decided to go on my own and drove up as a high school senior with my eventual freshman roomie to see the first-ever OU win at the then-new LNC. That was against OSU in January of '76. The crowd mostly turned out to see the OU football team receive its 1975 national title trophies, but seeing OU roll the Aggies seemed to pique a little interest. The win a few weeks later over an excellent Missouri team was also a lot of fun.
The '76 team only won nine games that year, no thanks to extreme youth and a terrible schedule (almost no home games until the conference season). But some of those good upset wins started some momentum that carried over into recruiting. That class was headlined by Aaron Curry, Al Beal and Terry Stotts, and the '77 team benefitted from the new blood and won 18 games, including all 12 at home.
I still say the '77 magic week with almost carbon-copy wins over K-State and Mizzou at the LNC really made a difference in building some tradition. It also didn't hurt that the bulk of that team led OU to its first Big 8 title two years later.
