NORMAN, (AP) — Credit the Heisman Trophy for helping to reunite two of the football programs who’ve taken home more of the awards than almost anyone else.

Oklahoma and Army announced Tuesday that they will play a two-game football series with games in Norman on Sept. 22, 2018, and at West Point, N.Y., on Sept. 26, 2020. The game here will be the first meeting between the tradition-rich programs since 1961.

Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione said discussions about the series popped up when he and his Army counterpart, Kevin Anderson, were seated together at the Heisman ceremony last December. Castiglione was there accompanying quarterback Sam Bradford, who won the trophy, while Anderson was with an Army contingent marking the 50th anniversary of Pete Dawkins’ Heisman win.

“We’re always looking for very interesting matchups and I think if you follow what we’ve done over time, we’ve really tried to uphold certain traditions of what makes college football special,” Castiglione said.

“While that series may not strike fear right now in a lot of people’s minds, I’m so grateful for the willingness and the working relationship that we have with the U.S. Military Academy to schedule a series like that.”

Only Ohio State, Notre Dame and Southern Cal — with seven apiece — have more Heisman Trophies than Oklahoma (5) and Army (3).

In the first game between the two programs, it was Heisman winner Glenn Davis who helped Army defeat Oklahoma 21-7 at West Point in 1946. Bud Wilkinson’s Sooners won the other two matchups, 28-20 in Norman in 1959 and 14-8 in 1961 at Yankee Stadium.

Castiglione said the new series made sense as a rare chance for Oklahoma to play in the Northeast and because there’s “a great affinity for military in our state.” The Sooners will host Air Force next season in the completion of a home-and-home series begun in 2001. Castiglione said he “would love” to set up a series with Navy.

“I think they deserve a great deal of credit for being willing to schedule a program like Oklahoma,” Castiglione said. “We know they play Notre Dame and a couple other schools that they play traditionally, but this is not something that a lot of schools are doing these days.”

Although Army has agreed to play a series of games at Yankee Stadium over the next few years — including against Notre Dame next year — Oklahoma is currently slated to play at Michie Stadium in 2020.

“We didn’t talk about that. We talked about just a home-and-home,” Castiglione said. “But there’s certainly nothing in the agreement that would prevent that from happening.”

In fact, Castiglione said he considered it a positive if the Sooners’ players got to play at West Point.

“Sure, they’re going to be focused on the game. But when you get to a place like that, to be able to walk their campus and to see incredible history there, I think it’s a teaching moment as much as it is a moment for sports,” Castiglione said.

“I’m not trying to make it too dramatic, but there’s other reasons why we try to put certain series together.”

Castiglione has made a habit of looking far into the future to put together the building blocks for the Sooners’ schedules. Among other future games already locked in are home-and-home series against Florida State (2010-11), Notre Dame (2012-13), Tennessee (2014-15), Ohio State (2016-17) and LSU (2018-19).