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How Oklahoma A&M Maneuvered Football During the Flu Pandemic of 1918

Oklahoma State’s maneuvering of the global pandemic of COVID-19 isn’t the first time it has dealt with a pandemic during the college football season.

In 1918, then-Oklahoma A&M dealt with an even worse outbreak — the Spanish Flu, which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide — and yet Oklahoma A&M, then in the Southwest Conference, managed to move forward with a season. (Or at least a semblance of one.)

It required flexibility. Instead of an eight-game schedule, Oklahoma A&M, then the Aggies, played only six games. They went 4-2 and finished last in the conference standings with Baylor and Arkansas at 0-2.