Bedlam football series isn't dead, but obstacles remain, OU, OSU athletic directors say

STILLWATER — Bedlam football, OU vs. OSU, predates Oklahoma statehood. The schools first met on Nov. 5, 1904, not in Norman or Stillwater, but at Old Island Park in the territorial capital of Guthrie.

There’s a historical marker in Guthrie at the site of the game, which OU won 75-0 on a blustery day on the banks of the Cottonwood Creek.

“Thus, Bedlam football in Oklahoma was born,” the plaque reads.

On Saturday, at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Bedlam football will die. At least for a little while. The Sooners are taking their ponies to the greener pastures of the SEC, leaving the Pokes and the Big 12 in a cloud of wagon dust.

But here’s the hope: In a decade, maybe more, a Bedlam series that’s been played consecutively since 1910 will be reborn.

The Oklahoman spoke with Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg, and neither ruled out a Bedlam football renewal.

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“I believe at some point it'll come back around,” Castiglione said. “And if one were to ask why, the answer is: because it makes sense. We can hold onto the emotions all you want, that's a personal choice, but at the end of the day at some point in the future I think it will happen.”

However, conversations about renewing the football series have yet to begin in earnest. The scars of OU’s impending departure are still fresh.

“We're dealing with the situation that came to us,” Weiberg said.

OU’s move to the SEC can be rationalized for all sorts of reasons, economic and competitive boosts among them, but one consequence of the Sooners’ decision to bolt is the end of Bedlam as we know it. Would OSU have done the same as OU if the situation was reversed? Seems likely, but that’s not what happened.

OU broke from the Big 12, thus breaking from OSU, which is why the onus to revive Bedlam is not on the Cowboys. Nor can OSU be blamed if it never returns.

“We've had some deeper conversations about other sports ... but we have not talked specifically into any detail about football,” Weiberg said. “They've got a lot of change happening there with their scheduling as well, so I'm sure that's what their focus is at this point.”

Both athletic directors are confident that Bedlam, albeit in a different form, will still be played in most sports. Weiberg mentioned the possibility of a neutral site basketball game, for example, or midweek baseball and softball games as opposed to weekend series.

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But whether OSU desires to play Bedlam football is beside the point. Unlike other sports, football non-conference opponents, especially Power Five opponents, are scheduled years in advance.

“We are scheduled out with our Power Five non-conference games through the late 30s,” Weiberg said. “Short of that changing somehow, which is possible, but short of that changing, it looks difficult for us to be able to add an Oklahoma or any Power Five (school) before that.”

Oklahoma State already has a competitive scheduling strategy. The Cowboys play three non-conference games each season, one of which is typically against a power conference opponent while the other two games are against Group of Five or FCS schools. Unless the competitive model changes, the Cowboys would disadvantage themselves by adding OU to the schedule in years where OSU is already playing a power opponent.

Here are the future power conference opponents OSU has scheduled: 2024: vs. Arkansas, 2025: at Oregon, 2026: vs. Oregon, 2027: at Arkansas, 2028: vs. Alabama, 2029: at Alabama, 2030: none, 2031: none, 2032: vs. Arkansas, 2033: at Arkansas, 2034: at Nebraska, 2035: vs. Nebraska.

OSU also had a 2036, 2037 home-and-home scheduled with Colorado, but that will come off the books given Colorado’s move to join OSU in the Big 12.

OSU has only two open dates in the next 12 years: 2030 and 2031. In 2030, OU plays at Nebraska, so it’s unlikely the Sooners would be willing to play OSU, too.

The leaves 2031 as the soonest possible Bedlam rebirth, when the only games on the book are OU vs. San Diego State and OSU vs. Tulsa. That’s just by looking at the schedule, though.

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“If one just breaks it down to the reality of it all, it's not possible to schedule a consistent home-and-home series until we get into the 2030s,” Castiglione said. “Chad and I have left the door open for future conversations.”

“We made our openness well known and our feelings known,” Castiglione added, “but it takes two parties to come together and make it happen.”

OU’s future non-conference schedule is more open. The Sooners scheduled future home-and-home series with Alabama, Georgia and LSU that are now off the books because of OU’s move to join those schools in the SEC.

As things stand, the SEC will stick to its eight-game conference schedule, as opposed to the Big 12’s nine-game conference schedule. That discrepancy impacts how programs try to best position themselves for an expanded College Football Playoff.

“There's some conferences that have been playing eight conference games and that gives them, it can be argued depending on how they schedule non-conference, a competitive advantage,” Weiberg said. “We don't want to further disadvantage our team by scheduling up, if you will, to a point.

“Having said that, we all know the landscape continues to change and we'll continue to monitor that.”

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Even though Bedlam has changed, from a game at Old Island Park in 1904 to Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday, OU playing OSU on the gridiron has been a constant in this state.

That era is almost over, but don’t declare Bedlam football dead just yet.

“I still believe,” Castiglione said, “at some point, somewhere, it'll happen.”

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

Bedlam at a glance

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater (ABC)

Series record: OU leads all-time series 91-19-7

Last meeting: OU won 28-13 last season in Norman on Nov. 20, 2022. Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel went 20-for-40 passing for 259 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Cowboys quarterback Spencer Sanders went 36-for-67 passing for 381 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.

More: OU football report card: Plenty of low marks for Sooners in loss to Kansas

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Bedlam football in future? OU, OSU ADs discuss optimism, obstacles