Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State among best rivalries in college football
NORMAN, Okla. — Bedlam football wasn’t all the time a giant deal. And sure, you holdouts, it’s a large deal now.
But there was a time when the pollsters took no discover. A time when ESPN or its forerunner, the Eastern Press, paid no consideration.
Heck, after I was a child, we didn’t even connect the Bedlam identify to the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State football rivalry. That was reserved for wrestling and basketball and the extra frenzied athletic competitors.
That was then. Now, the best Bedlam leisure happens on the gridiron.
Oh, the outcomes are about the identical. Oklahoma State hardly ever wins. It has simply two victories over Oklahoma in Mike Gundy’s 15 cracks on the Sooners, regardless of this being the golden age of Cowboy football.
But man, the video games are good: 48-47 in 2018, 62-52 in 2017, 38-35 in extra time in 2014, 33-24 in the ice in 2013, 51-48 in extra time in 2011, 47-41 in 2010, 61-41 in 2008. The best present on pink earth is Bedlam football.
“This game is always a big one for this program,” OU middle Creed Humphrey mentioned. “It’s a great rivalry. Always great games in this one. Always a fun one to play in. They’re always ready to play us. We’re always ready to play them.”
The nation has seen. ESPN’s College GameDay will probably be in Norman for the sport, and it’s the seventh Bedlam recreation to attract the long-lasting Saturday present. Only 5 rivalries have hosted GameDay extra: Alabama-LSU and Ohio State-Penn State 11 instances every, and Florida State-Florida, Tennessee-Florida and Miami-Florida State eight instances every.
“The years I’ve played, this is two out of the four times that College GameDay is going to be there,” mentioned OSU senior receiver Dillon Stoner. “That in and of itself speaks to the importance of how big this game really is. It’s truly a dream come true to be a part of it. College GameDay being there is enough said.”
It’s unusual that such a one-sided collection might maintain such standing. The Sooners lead the collection 89-18-7, a successful proportion of .811 that’s largely unchanged by way of the eras. For a lot of its historical past, Bedlam football was a regional affair. State bragging rights had been the best stakes. Conference supremacy by no means was on the road. Networks weren’t .
But then OSU grew to become constantly aggressive in the Les Miles days (2001-04), and Gundy constructed upon it, and now the Cowboys are the Sooners’ most constant Big 12 menace. Yes, greater than Texas.
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“Just being around football, it’s one of those rivalries you hear about,” mentioned OU security Tre Norwood.
For good motive. The groups meet Saturday night time on Owen Field, with the Cowboys ranked 14th and the Sooners seventeenth in the Amway Coaches Poll. It’s the eleventh time each groups have been ranked in the AP ballot on the time of their recreation since 2003.
In college football, solely three different rivalries over that point have matched ranked groups extra typically: LSU-Florida with 14, Alabama-LSU with 13, and OU-Texas with 12 ranked matchups. And Bedlam is much more spectacular whenever you keep in mind nearly all of these video games have come late in the season. OU-Texas often is staged the second Saturday of October, earlier than the Longhorns have had time to play their manner out of the rankings.
“I’ve definitely learned the Oklahoma traditions since I’ve gotten out here,” mentioned OU fullback Jeremiah Hall, who’s from Charlotte, North Carolina. “It took me about a year to hop on board just like everybody else. But man, this game means a lot to me simply because it’s always hard-fought whether it’s on the field, just everything about it, no matter the record, no matter the previous games.
“It’s just like Texas. Every year is new. So yeah, I’ve definitely grown to love this game.”
Bedlam on the extent with the Red River Rivalry? That’s heresy in Sooner Nation.
But whereas Bedlam can’t match the State Fair of Texas ambiance, or the century-long historical past of two storied packages, Bedlam can trump OU-Texas in significance. Bedlam has grow to be the Big 12 recreation that the majority typically carries the largest impression on the convention standings.
And the nation is aware of it.
