Why the Bedlam rivalry wouldn't have to end if OU, OSU Big 12 affiliation does
Jenni CarlsonOklahoman
Belief that OU may soon bolt the Big 12 has spurred lots of questions in our state, but what you’re asking probably depends whether you side with the crimson and cream or the orange and black.
At least one query, however, is shared by all.
What about Bedlam?
So many splendid and storied rivalries have been sacrificed on the altar of conference realignment in recent times. Texas-Texas A&M. Kansas-Missouri. OU-Nebraska. Colorado-Nebraska. Utah-BYU. The list is long.
Some schools have restored the rivalries while others have vowed they will never do so.
So, what of OU and OSU? What will happen to Bedlam if the Sooners head to the SEC and the Cowboys stay in the Big 12 or find a new conference home?
Here’s a hearty vote for keeping Bedlam alive.
This rivalry is over a century old, and of course, football is the flagship, like it is in every aspect of college athletics these days. Even though the series record is lopsided, tilted heavily in the Sooners’ favor, Bedlam has become the most relevant rivalry in all of college football. No rivalry has had as much impact on the national landscape over the past decade.
Bedlam might not be the best. Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, Army-Navy and the like would have some say in that. But since 2010, Bedlam determined the Big 12 winner or a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game five times, and another five times, one of the teams entered the game with strong conference crown aspirations.
No other rivalry has had such high stakes over the past decade.
Bedlam, of course, goes way beyond football. The rivalry has produced amazing games over the decades in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball, on and on. There have been memorable moments in every sport and for both sides.
But even with all that history, can Bedlam survive OU and OSU being in different conferences?
I say yes.
For starters, there isn’t deep-seeded or long-standing acrimony between the leaders at the two schools. Fans, maybe. But not the decision makers.
Now, they aren’t in lockstep like they were a decade ago when the Big 12 had its first fracture. They were a package deal then.
Not so now.
No doubt OU partnering with Texas instead of OSU in this endeavor wrinkles some folks in Stillwater. Probably pains some in Norman that it has to be this way, too. Feelings are probably hurt, and Christmas card lists may look a little different than they did this time last week.
But animosity?
OU and OSU seem a long way from that.
We know what those kind of emotions look like, too. When Texas A&M bolted the Big 12 for the SEC a decade ago, it was motivated by animosity toward Texas. The Aggies had not just tired of the Horns’ power in the Big 12 but had come to hate Texas for it.
And when Texas A&M opted out of the conference, Texas opted out of their rivalry.
Whole lotta disgust on both sides.
It hasn't waned either. News that OU and Texas were exploring a Big 12 split and a move to the SEC? That came from Texas A&M. We don't know that explicitly, but it was broken by a reporter who as covered the Aggies for years on the day Texas A&M was at SEC Media Days. Doesn't take much to diagnosis the leak.
The Aggies don't want the Longhorns in the SEC, so someone from Texas A&M leaked the story hoping to force the issue and scuttle the move. Not sure it will have the intended outcome, but it tells you how little they want to do with one another.
That isn’t the nature of Bedlam.
A week ago — though it feels much longer after the news of this week — I stood on the field at JerryWorld talking to OSU reps during Big 12 Media Days. School president Kayse Shrum made the trip. So did athletic director Chad Weiberg and several other high-ranking officials in athletics. Their Bedlam rival came up a couple different times in conversation, and never once did I sense a hint of disdain.
A desire to beat the Sooners?
That’s always there.
But bad blood?
Not a trace.
That is hugely important to keeping Bedlam going should the Cowboys and Sooners no longer be conference foes.
This, too, is important — there’s a belief that Sooner decision makers want to see Bedlam continue as well.
It’s easy to see why both sides might agree to keep the rivalry going. Across the board, the games are great, drawing thousands of fans and selling lots of tickets. They are money makers for the schools. They are attention grabbers for the programs. They are sources of pride for our entire state.
Just because a lot of other rivalries have ended when conference affiliations did doesn’t mean it would have to be that way with Bedlam.
Plenty of us in Oklahoma believe Bedlam is best. If the rivalry reaches a crossroads, here’s hoping its leaders will show themselves to be better than the rest.
