Bedlam Series

The Bedlam Series is the name given to the Oklahoma–Oklahoma State rivalry.[1][2] It refers to the athletics rivalry between Oklahoma State University Cowboys and Cowgirls and the University of Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 Conference. Both schools were also members of the Big Eight Conference before the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, and both were divisional rivals in the Big 12 South Division prior to 2011.

Bedlam Series

Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma State Cowboys
First meeting	1900 (track and field) 1904 (football)

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Locations of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State

The Bedlam Series is, like most other intrastate rivalries, a rivalry that goes beyond one or two sports. Both schools also have rivalries with other schools, though most of those rivalries are limited to one or two sports at the most. The rivalry is all the more intense since their games often decide the conference championship.

While the football and basketball games stand today as the marquee events in the Bedlam Series, the term "Bedlam" actually began with the rivalry between the schools' prestigious wrestling programs,[3] more particularly the raucous crowds that attended the matches held at Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena.[4]

Football

Football series

Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma State Cowboys
First meeting	November 6, 1904 Oklahoma 75, Oklahoma A&M 0
Latest meeting	November 30, 2019 Oklahoma 34, Oklahoma State 16
Next meeting	October 24, 2020
Statistics
Meetings total	114
All-time series	Oklahoma leads, 89–18–7
Largest victory	Oklahoma, 75–0 (1904)
Longest win streak	Oklahoma, 19 (1946–1964)
Current win streak	Oklahoma, 5 (2015–present)

The original Bedlam Series logo.

The first Bedlam football game was held at Island Park, now known as Mineral Wells Park, in Guthrie, Oklahoma. It was a cold, and very windy day with the temperatures well below the freezing mark. At one moment in the game when the Oklahoma A&M Aggies were punting, the wind carried the ball backwards behind the kicker. If the Oklahoma A&M squad recovered the ball it would be a touchback and if the University of Oklahoma squad recovered it, it would be a touchdown. The ball rolled down a hill into the half-frozen creek. Since a touchdown was at stake, members of both teams dove into the icy waters to recover the ball. A member of the OU team came out with the ball and downed it for a touchdown. OU won the game, 75–0.[5]

In 2007, author Steve Budin, whose father was a New York bookie, publicized the claim that the 1954 Bedlam Game was fixed by mobsters in his book Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (ISBN 1-60239-099-1).[6] Allegedly, the mobsters threatened and paid off a cook to slip laxatives into a soup eaten by many OU Sooner starting players, causing them to fall violently ill in the days leading up to the game. OU was victorious in the end, but their 14–0 win did not cover the 20-point spread they had in their favor. However, many people involved in the 1954 contest do not recall any incident like the one purported by Budin to have occurred.[7] Nor do any of the pregame and postgame newspaper articles mention any such condition. One possible reason for the Sooners' lackluster performance, according to one coach, was that the players were "beat up" from the previous game against Nebraska.[8] Since it started in 1904, Bedlam is now the 4th-longest continuously-played rivalry in FBS (Division 1) college football. Because it is uninterrupted since 1910, it is also now the single longest uninterrupted rivalry, between two public universities, in the same state, that have a game named "University of _ vs. _ State University."

Game results

Oklahoma victories

Oklahoma State victories

Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Series	Attendance
1	November 6, 1904	Guthrie	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	75–0	Oklahoma 1–0
2	October 19, 1906	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	23–0	Oklahoma 2–0
3	November 9, 1907	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	67–0	Oklahoma 3–0
4	October 3, 1908	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	18–0	Oklahoma 4–0
5	October 21, 1910	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	12–0	Oklahoma 5–0
6	October 20, 1911	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	22–0	Oklahoma 6–0
7	November 16, 1912	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	16–0	Oklahoma 7–0
8	November 21, 1913	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	7–0	Oklahoma 8–0
9	November 6, 1914	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	28–6	Oklahoma 9–0
10	November 25, 1915	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	26–7	Oklahoma 10–0	5,000
11	November 30, 1916	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	41–7	Oklahoma 11–0
12	November 29, 1917	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	9–0	Oklahoma 11–1
13	November 28, 1918	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	27–0	Oklahoma 12–1
14	November 27, 1919	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	33–6	Oklahoma 13–1
15	November 13, 1920	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	36–0	Oklahoma 14–1
16	October 15, 1921	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	6–0	Oklahoma 15–1
17	November 25, 1922	Stillwater	Tie		3–3	Oklahoma 15–1–1
18	October 27, 1923	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	12–0	Oklahoma 16–1–1
19	November 1, 1924	Stillwater	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	6–0	Oklahoma 16–2–1
20	November 26, 1925	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	35–0	Oklahoma 17–2–1
21	November 25, 1926	Stillwater	Tie		14–14	Oklahoma 17–2–2
22	November 19, 1927	Norman	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	13–7	Oklahoma 17–3–2
23	November 24, 1928	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	46–0	Oklahoma 18–3–2
24	November 23, 1929	Norman	Tie		7–7	Oklahoma 18–3–3
25	November 22, 1930	Stillwater	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	7–0	Oklahoma 18–4–3
26	November 26, 1931	Norman	Tie		0–0	Oklahoma 18–4–4
27	October 29, 1932	Stillwater	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	7–0	Oklahoma 18–5–4
28	November 23, 1933	Norman	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	13–0	Oklahoma 18–6–4
29	November 22, 1934	Stillwater	Tie		0–0	Oklahoma 18–6–5
30	November 28, 1935	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	25–0	Oklahoma 19–6–5	10,000
31	November 26, 1936	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	35–13	Oklahoma 20–6–5
32	November 25, 1937	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	16–0	Oklahoma 21–6–5
33	November 24, 1938	Stillwater	#6 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	19–0	Oklahoma 22–6–5
34	October 28, 1939	Norman	#6 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	41–0	Oklahoma 23–6–5
35	October 5, 1940	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	29–27	Oklahoma 24–6–5
36	October 4, 1941	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	19–0	Oklahoma 25–6–5	25,453
37	September 26, 1942	Stillwater	Tie		0–0	Oklahoma 25–6–6
38	October 2, 1943	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	22–13	Oklahoma 26–6–6
39	November 25, 1944	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	28–6	Oklahoma 26–7–6
40	November 24, 1945	Norman	#6 Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma	47–0	Oklahoma 26–8–6	33,000
41	November 30, 1946	Stillwater	#17 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	73–12	Oklahoma 27–8–6	18,500
42	November 29, 1947	Norman	#20 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	21–13	Oklahoma 28–8–6	33,945
43	November 27, 1948	Stillwater	#6 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	19–15	Oklahoma 29–8–6	30,000
44	November 26, 1949	Norman	#3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	41–0	Oklahoma 30–8–6	47,937
45	December 2, 1950	Stillwater	#1 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	41–14	Oklahoma 31–8–6	28,530
46	December 1, 1951	Norman	#10 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	41–6	Oklahoma 32–8–6	33,103
47	November 29, 1952	Stillwater	#4 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	54–7	Oklahoma 33–8–6	21,408
48	November 28, 1953	Norman	#4 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	42–7	Oklahoma 34–8–6	50,524
49	November 27, 1954	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	14–0	Oklahoma 35–8–6	38,000
50	November 26, 1955	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	53–0	Oklahoma 36–8–6	40,182
51	December 1, 1956	Stillwater	#1 Oklahoma	Oklahoma A&M	53–0	Oklahoma 37–8–6	36,500
52	November 30, 1957	Norman	#5 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	53–6	Oklahoma 38–8–6	52,366
53	November 29, 1958	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	7–0	Oklahoma 39–8–6	37,014
54	November 28, 1959	Norman	#17 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	17–7	Oklahoma 40–8–6	59,136
55	November 26, 1960	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	17–6	Oklahoma 41–8–6	32,381
56	December 2, 1961	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	21–13	Oklahoma 42–8–6	52,598
57	December 1, 1962	Stillwater	#8 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	37–6	Oklahoma 43–8–6	35,757
58	November 30, 1963	Norman	#10 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	34–10	Oklahoma 44–8–6	50,678
59	November 28, 1964	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	21–16	Oklahoma 45–8–6	36,987
60	December 4, 1965	Norman	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma	17–16	Oklahoma 45–9–6	54,876
61	December 3, 1966	Stillwater	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma	15–14	Oklahoma 45–10–6	36,581
62	December 2, 1967	Norman	#3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	38–14	Oklahoma 46–10–6	62,038
63	November 30, 1968	Stillwater	#11 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	41–7	Oklahoma 47–10–6	38,515
64	November 29, 1969	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	28–27	Oklahoma 48–10–6	41,315
65	November 28, 1970	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	66–6	Oklahoma 49–10–6	60,300
66	December 4, 1971	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	58–14	Oklahoma 50–10–6	36,571
67	December 2, 1972	Norman	#3 Oklahoma	#20 Oklahoma State	38–15	Oklahoma 51–10–6	62,363
68	December 1, 1973	Stillwater	#2 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	45–18	Oklahoma 52–10–6	50,964
69	November 30, 1974	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	44–13	Oklahoma 53–10–6	62,619
70	November 1, 1975	Stillwater	#2 Oklahoma	#19 Oklahoma State	27–7	Oklahoma 54–10–6	49,358
71	October 23, 1976	Norman	Oklahoma State	#5 Oklahoma	31–24	Oklahoma 54–11–6	72,041
72	November 5, 1977	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	61–28	Oklahoma 55–11–6	50,088
73	November 18, 1978	Norman	#4 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	62–7	Oklahoma 56–11–6	72,339
74	November 3, 1979	Stillwater	#7 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	38–7	Oklahoma 57–11–6	51,453
75	November 29, 1980	Norman	#6 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	63–14	Oklahoma 58–11–6	75,681
76	November 28, 1981	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	27–3	Oklahoma 59–11–6	51,100
77	October 23, 1982	Norman	#20 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	27–9	Oklahoma 60–11–6	76,406
78	October 15, 1983	Stillwater	#15 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	21–20	Oklahoma 61–11–6	50,440
79	November 24, 1984	Norman	#2 Oklahoma	#3 Oklahoma State	24–14	Oklahoma 62–11–6	76,198
80	November 30, 1985	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	#17 Oklahoma State	13–0	Oklahoma 63–11–6	44,000
81	October 18, 1986	Norman	#5 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	19–0	Oklahoma 64–11–6	76,022
82	November 7, 1987	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	#12 Oklahoma State	29–10	Oklahoma 65–11–6	75,004
83	November 5, 1988	Stillwater	#8 Oklahoma	#12 Oklahoma State	31–28	Oklahoma 66–11–6	50,440
84	October 7, 1989	Norman	#16 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	37–15	Oklahoma 67–11–6	74,610
85	October 6, 1990	Stillwater	#7 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	31–17	Oklahoma 68–11–6	49,800
86	November 16, 1991	Norman	#18 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	21–6	Oklahoma 69–11–6	68,778
87	November 14, 1992	Stillwater	Tie		15–15	Oklahoma 69–11–7	50,440
88	November 13, 1993	Norman	#17 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	31–0	Oklahoma 70–11–7	65,275
89	November 13, 1994	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	33–14	Oklahoma 71–11–7	50,116
90	November 11, 1995	Norman	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma	12–0	Oklahoma 71–12–7	75,004
91	November 8, 1996	Stillwater	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	27–17	Oklahoma 72–12–7	51,416
92	November 8, 1997	Norman	#25 Oklahoma State	Oklahoma	30–7	Oklahoma 72–13–7	72,422
93	October 24, 1998	Stillwater	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma	41–26	Oklahoma 72–14–7	50,614
94	November 27, 1999	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	44–7	Oklahoma 73–14–7	75,374
95	November 25, 2000	Stillwater	#1 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	12–7	Oklahoma 74–14–7	48,500
96	November 24, 2001	Norman	Oklahoma State	#4 Oklahoma	16–13	Oklahoma 74–15–7	75,537
97	November 30, 2002	Stillwater	Oklahoma State	#3 Oklahoma	38–28	Oklahoma 74–16–7	48,500
98	November 1, 2003	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	#14 Oklahoma State	52–9	Oklahoma 75–16–7	84,027
99	October 30, 2004	Stillwater	#2 Oklahoma	#20 Oklahoma State	38–35	Oklahoma 76–16–7	48,837
100	November 26, 2005	Norman	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	42–14	Oklahoma 77–16–7	84,875
101	November 25, 2006	Stillwater	#13 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	27–21	Oklahoma 78–16–7	42,819
102	November 24, 2007	Norman	#10 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	49–17	Oklahoma 79–16–7	85,238
103	November 29, 2008	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	#11 Oklahoma State	61–41	Oklahoma 80–16–7	49,031
104	November 28, 2009	Norman	Oklahoma	#12 Oklahoma State	27–0	Oklahoma 81–16–7	85,606
105	November 27, 2010	Stillwater	#14 Oklahoma	#10 Oklahoma State	47–41	Oklahoma 82–16–7	51,164
106	December 3, 2011	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma State	#10 Oklahoma	44–10	Oklahoma 82–17–7	58,141
107	November 24, 2012	Norman	#13 Oklahoma	#21 Oklahoma State	51–48^OT	Oklahoma 83–17–7	85,824
108	December 7, 2013	Stillwater	#17 Oklahoma	#6 Oklahoma State	33–24	Oklahoma 84–17–7	58,520
109	December 6, 2014	Norman	Oklahoma State	#18 Oklahoma	38–35^OT	Oklahoma 84–18–7	85,312
110	November 28, 2015	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	#11 Oklahoma State	58–23	Oklahoma 85–18–7	58,231
111	December 3, 2016	Norman	#5 Oklahoma	#11 Oklahoma State	38–20	Oklahoma 86–18–7	87,527
112	November 4, 2017	Stillwater	#5 Oklahoma	#11 Oklahoma State	62–52	Oklahoma 87–18–7	56,790
113	November 10, 2018	Norman	#6 Oklahoma	Oklahoma State	48–47	Oklahoma 88–18–7	87,635
114	November 30, 2019	Stillwater	#7 Oklahoma	#21 Oklahoma State	34–16	Oklahoma 89–18–7	54,575
115	November 24, 2020	Norman

Men's basketball

Oklahoma owns the all-time series record in men's basketball, 140–100, and have won 22 of the last 34 meetings. The Sooners swept the Cowboys in 2018-2019, giving Oklahoma its seventh Bedlam sweep since 2006, including 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 regular season Bedlam series. Oklahoma State has swept just once in that span, in 2017.[9]

Wrestling

Oklahoma State holds a lopsided advantage in the schools' wrestling rivalry, the original "Bedlam Series."[3][4] The Cowboy wrestling program currently holds a 141–27–10 record against the Sooners, which is all the more remarkable considering that both schools have long been national powers in wrestling. Oklahoma has won seven team national championships in its history, while Oklahoma State's wrestling program has a record thirty-four team national titles.[10]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games
• List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I

References

1. World, Tulsa. "The Bedlam Series". Tulsa World. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
2. "Nobody really knows why OU-OSU is called 'Bedlam'". Retrieved October 13, 2018.
3. "Postscript: The Historic Field House" (PDF). Sooner Magazine. Summer 2011. p. 32.
4. "Facilities: Gallagher-Iba Arena (Oklahoma State Official Athletic Site)". Retrieved November 14, 2011.
5. Long, Charles F. (September 1965). "With Optimism For the Morrow: A History of The University of Oklahoma". Sooner Magazine.
6. Budin, Steve with Schaller, Bob (2007). Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Offshore Sports Gambling Empire. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 1-60239-099-1.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
7. "Book claims '54 Bedlam Game was fixed by mob". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
8. Meece, Volney (November 28, 1954). "Both Dressing Rooms Quiet After Sooners Edge Aggies". The Daily Oklahoman. p. D7.
9. "Bedlam basketball debate | Berry Tramel's Blog". Blog.newsok.com. June 29, 2009. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
10. "History – Past Champions". NCAA. Archived from the original on November 17, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2006.

External links

• Bedlam Series at OKState.com
• Bedlam Series at SoonerSports.com
• Voices of Oklahoma interview with Bob Barry Sr. First person interview conducted on March 31, 2011, with Bob Barry Sr. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project.