OU and OSU officially set for a 2:30 p.m. Bedlam kickoff in Week 10
The final edition of the Bedlam rivalry will start at 2:30 p.m. on ABC, per the Big 12.
Here’s everything you need to know with the game time settled for the 118th meeting between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and Big Noon Kickoff heading to Stillwater on Nov. 4.
The television networks made use of the six-day selection window for Bedlam in 2023, waiting until late Saturday to make an announcement..
FOX also announced that Big Noon Kickoff will be coming to OSU next weekend. It’ll represent the first time Stillwater has hosted a national pregame studio show since Bedlam 2017 before a matchup between No. 5 OU and the No. 11 Cowboys that ended in a 62-52 Sooners win.
Bedlam will carry both national and Big 12 implications in 2023. The Sooners’ postseason hopes took a hit Saturday in their 38-33 at Kansas.
OU will still enter Bedlam among the lead contenders to reach the Dec. 2 Big 12 Championship game. OSU, as of Saturday night, is attempting to beat Cincinnati at home to bring a four-game win streak into the matchup.
Next Saturday marks the 118th football meeting between OU and OSU dating to 1904. The Sooners lead the all-time series 91-19-7 with a 78% winning percentage against the Cowboys. OU topped OSU, 28-13, in Norman last fall; the Cowboys won a 37-33 thriller the last time OSU hosted Bedlam on Nov. 27, 2021.
This Bedlam game will be the last, at least for a while. There are currently no plans for the schools to meet in nonconference play once the Sooners jump to the SEC in 2024, placing the nearly 120 year on the shelf for the foreseeable future. OU and OSU are expected to continue playing in other sports. As Mike Gundy put it over the summer, Bedlam football is about to be “history”.
Oklahoma has won eight of the past 10 matchups. Oklahoma State’s two wins over that stretch came in 2014 and 2021
What this game could mean for the Sooners
The Sooners will head to Boone Pickens Stadium attempting to bounce back from a loss for the first time this season. If the final Bedlam matchup wasn’t enough motivation, OU’s 38-33 loss to Kansas should provide plenty of juice.
No longer bonafide College Football Playoff chases, the Sooners head to Stillwater still as firm Big 12 title favorites. In what would have seemed a surprising turn a month ago, OSU now stands among OU’s rivals for a spot in the Dec. 2 conference championship game. A Sooners win in Week 10 would go a long way toward settling stomachs in Norman and clearing OU’s path to Arlington.
Bigger picture: you can’t call your in-state rival “little brother” and then lose the last time you’re scheduled to play against them for the foreseeable future. The Sooners would be well served to pull this one out.
What this game could mean for the Cowboys
Three weeks ago, Bedlam looked like a chance to play spoiler and erase decades of hurt. Now, a win will put the Cowboys on track to potentially play in the Big 12 Championship for the second time in three seasons. The Cowboys entered Saturday night’s game against Cincinnati on a three-game win streak and have only to beat the Bearcats to make Bedlam a game jam-packed with season-long implications.
— Sam and Ben Hutchens, OSU beat writers
