Oklahoma’s 70th win in the Iowa State series Saturday is another notch for the Sooners, but it’s not the highest total for either team. Oklahoma has beaten Oklahoma State more times (82 through 2011), and Iowa State has lost to Nebraska more times (86 according to the NCAA, 85 according to ISU).
In fact, 70 wins over one opponent barely makes the top 15 in raw wins. The difference between OU-ISU and the many above it is that the underdog has been able to pull out more wins along the way. For example, through 2011 Tennessee has beaten Kentucky 74 times and Vanderbilt 73, but both losers have about two dozen wins to their credit.
The top five raw win totals, based on numbers from mcubed.net: Nebraska>Kansas (91), Nebraska>Iowa State (“86”), Oklahoma>Oklahoma State (82), Alabama>Mississippi State (77), Texas>Texas A&M (76)*.
*There are some bowl projections with a meeting in the 2013 Cotton Bowl, in which case the entire state of Texas will spontaneously combust.