Future of Bedlam Football Continues to Look Bleak
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Oklahoma State’s rival bolted for a different conference and isn’t interested in renewing the rivalry any time soon.
On Nov. 4, 2023, OSU beat the Oklahoma Sooners 27-24 in Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. It appears that result will stand as the final meeting between the two for at least a decade.
On Wednesday, 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello tweeted an update on the rivalry's future. He reported that OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said the rivalry will be off the schedule through well into the 2030s.
The Cowboys and Sooners haven’t struggled much to schedule games in other sports in the midst of conference realignment, with wrestling and men’s basketball set for matchups this weekend. The schools are willing to work together to face one another in other sports, but football presents a much different set of challenges.
The Cowboys’ nonconference schedules are set well into the future. And while the Sooners’ nonconference schedule has increased to four games per year since moving to the SEC, scheduling conflicts are still inevitable.
With a scheduled nonconference matchup seemingly out of the equation, the best shot at finding the Cowboys and Sooners on the same field again in the next decade will be in the postseason. Whether in a bowl or playoff game, there is a slim chance the schools could meet at some point.
Still, it would almost certainly take both teams earning at-large bids in the College Football Playoff for a postseason matchup to take place in Oklahoma. Overall, the scheduling excuses from both sides have been a disservice to football fans in the state.
Bedlam had been a staple of falls in Oklahoma for well over a century before coming to a screeching halt this season. Maybe the teams will find a nonconference agreement or even end up in the same conference again in the future, but as of now, the Bedlam rivalry will have to exist just about everywhere except the gridiron.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.