Bedlam Series

Bedlam Series

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

75km
50miles

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma

  

Locations of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State

The Bedlam Series is the name given to the Oklahoma–Oklahoma State rivalry. 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.

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, more particularly the raucous crowds that attended the matches held at Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Football

Football series

Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma State Cowboys
First meeting	November 6, 1904 Oklahoma, 75–0
Latest meeting	November 21, 2020 Oklahoma, 41–13
Next meeting	2021 (TBA)
Statistics
Meetings total	115
All-time series	Oklahoma leads, 90–18–7
Largest victory	Oklahoma, 75–0 (1904)
Longest win streak	Oklahoma, 19 (1946–1964)
Current win streak	Oklahoma, 6 (2015–present)

File:Bedlamserieslogo.png

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, but 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.

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). 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. 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.

Game results

Oklahoma victories

Oklahoma State victories

Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Attendance
1	November 6, 1904	Guthrie	Oklahoma	75–0
2	October 19, 1906	Stillwater	Oklahoma	23–0
3	November 9, 1907	Norman	Oklahoma	67–0
4	October 3, 1908	Stillwater	Oklahoma	18–0
5	October 21, 1910	Norman	Oklahoma	12–0
6	October 20, 1911	Stillwater	Oklahoma	22–0
7	November 16, 1912	Norman	Oklahoma	16–0
8	November 21, 1913	Stillwater	Oklahoma	7–0
9	November 6, 1914	Norman	Oklahoma	28–6
10	November 25, 1915	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	26–7	5,000
11	November 30, 1916	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	41–7
12	November 29, 1917	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma A&M	9–0
13	November 28, 1918	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	27–0
14	November 27, 1919	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	33–6
15	November 13, 1920	Stillwater	Oklahoma	36–0
16	October 15, 1921	Norman	Oklahoma	6–0
17	November 25, 1922	Stillwater	Tie	3–3
18	October 27, 1923	Norman	Oklahoma	12–0
19	November 1, 1924	Stillwater	Oklahoma A&M	6–0
20	November 26, 1925	Norman	Oklahoma	35–0
21	November 25, 1926	Stillwater	Tie	14–14
22	November 19, 1927	Norman	Oklahoma A&M	13–7
23	November 24, 1928	Stillwater	Oklahoma	46–0
24	November 23, 1929	Norman	Tie	7–7
25	November 22, 1930	Stillwater	Oklahoma A&M	7–0
26	November 26, 1931	Norman	Tie	0–0
27	October 29, 1932	Stillwater	Oklahoma A&M	7–0
28	November 23, 1933	Norman	Oklahoma A&M	13–0
29	November 22, 1934	Stillwater	Tie	0–0
30	November 28, 1935	Norman	Oklahoma	25–0	10,000
31	November 26, 1936	Stillwater	Oklahoma	35–13
32	November 25, 1937	Norman	Oklahoma	16–0
33	November 24, 1938	Stillwater	#6 Oklahoma	19–0
34	October 28, 1939	Norman	#6 Oklahoma	41–0
35	October 5, 1940	Norman	Oklahoma	29–27
36	October 4, 1941	Norman	Oklahoma	19–0	25,453
37	September 26, 1942	Stillwater	Tie	0–0
38	October 2, 1943	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	22–13
39	November 25, 1944	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma A&M	28–6
40	November 24, 1945	Norman	#6 Oklahoma A&M	47–0	33,000
41	November 30, 1946	Stillwater	#17 Oklahoma	73–12	18,500
42	November 29, 1947	Norman	#20 Oklahoma	21–13	33,945
43	November 27, 1948	Stillwater	#6 Oklahoma	19–15	30,000
44	November 26, 1949	Norman	#3 Oklahoma	41–0	47,937
45	December 2, 1950	Stillwater	#1 Oklahoma	41–14	28,530
46	December 1, 1951	Norman	#10 Oklahoma	41–6	33,103
47	November 29, 1952	Stillwater	#4 Oklahoma	54–7	21,408
48	November 28, 1953	Norman	#4 Oklahoma	42–7	50,524
49	November 27, 1954	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	14–0	38,000
50	November 26, 1955	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	53–0	40,182
51	December 1, 1956	Stillwater	#1 Oklahoma	53–0	36,500
52	November 30, 1957	Norman	#5 Oklahoma	53–6	52,366
53	November 29, 1958	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	7–0	37,014
54	November 28, 1959	Norman	#17 Oklahoma	17–7	59,136
55	November 26, 1960	Stillwater	Oklahoma	17–6	32,381
56	December 2, 1961	Norman	Oklahoma	21–13	52,598
57	December 1, 1962	Stillwater	#8 Oklahoma	37–6	35,757
58	November 30, 1963	Norman	#10 Oklahoma	34–10	50,678

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score	Attendance
59	November 28, 1964	Stillwater	Oklahoma	21–16	36,987
60	December 4, 1965	Norman	Oklahoma State	17–16	54,876
61	December 3, 1966	Stillwater	Oklahoma State	15–14	36,581
62	December 2, 1967	Norman	#3 Oklahoma	38–14	62,038
63	November 30, 1968	Stillwater	#11 Oklahoma	41–7	38,515
64	November 29, 1969	Stillwater	Oklahoma	28–27	41,315
65	November 28, 1970	Norman	Oklahoma	66–6	60,300
66	December 4, 1971	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	58–14	36,571
67	December 2, 1972	Norman	#3 Oklahoma	38–15	62,363
68	December 1, 1973	Stillwater	#2 Oklahoma	45–18	50,964
69	November 30, 1974	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	44–13	62,619
70	November 1, 1975	Stillwater	#2 Oklahoma	27–7	49,358
71	October 23, 1976	Norman	Oklahoma State	31–24	72,041
72	November 5, 1977	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	61–28	50,088
73	November 18, 1978	Norman	#4 Oklahoma	62–7	72,339
74	November 3, 1979	Stillwater	#7 Oklahoma	38–7	51,453
75	November 29, 1980	Norman	#6 Oklahoma	63–14	75,681
76	November 28, 1981	Stillwater	Oklahoma	27–3	51,100
77	October 23, 1982	Norman	#20 Oklahoma	27–9	76,406
78	October 15, 1983	Stillwater	#15 Oklahoma	21–20	50,440
79	November 24, 1984	Norman	#2 Oklahoma	24–14	76,198
80	November 30, 1985	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	13–0	44,000
81	October 18, 1986	Norman	#5 Oklahoma	19–0	76,022
82	November 7, 1987	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	29–10	75,004
83	November 5, 1988	Stillwater	#8 Oklahoma	31–28	50,440
84	October 7, 1989	Norman	#16 Oklahoma	37–15	74,610
85	October 6, 1990	Stillwater	#7 Oklahoma	31–17	49,800
86	November 16, 1991	Norman	#18 Oklahoma	21–6	68,778
87	November 14, 1992	Stillwater	Tie	15–15	50,440
88	November 13, 1993	Norman	#17 Oklahoma	31–0	65,275
89	November 13, 1994	Stillwater	Oklahoma	33–14	50,116
90	November 11, 1995	Norman	Oklahoma State	12–0	75,004
91	November 8, 1996	Stillwater	Oklahoma	27–17	51,416
92	November 8, 1997	Norman	#25 Oklahoma State	30–7	72,422
93	October 24, 1998	Stillwater	Oklahoma State	41–26	50,614
94	November 27, 1999	Norman	Oklahoma	44–7	75,374
95	November 25, 2000	Stillwater	#1 Oklahoma	12–7	48,500
96	November 24, 2001	Norman	Oklahoma State	16–13	75,537
97	November 30, 2002	Stillwater	Oklahoma State	38–28	48,500
98	November 1, 2003	Norman	#1 Oklahoma	52–9	84,027
99	October 30, 2004	Stillwater	#2 Oklahoma	38–35	48,837
100	November 26, 2005	Norman	Oklahoma	42–14	84,875
101	November 25, 2006	Stillwater	#13 Oklahoma	27–21	42,819
102	November 24, 2007	Norman	#10 Oklahoma	49–17	85,238
103	November 29, 2008	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	61–41	49,031
104	November 28, 2009	Norman	Oklahoma	27–0	85,606
105	November 27, 2010	Stillwater	#14 Oklahoma	47–41	51,164
106	December 3, 2011	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma State	44–10	58,141
107	November 24, 2012	Norman	#13 Oklahoma	51–48OT	85,824
108	December 7, 2013	Stillwater	#17 Oklahoma	33–24	58,520
109	December 6, 2014	Norman	Oklahoma State	38–35OT	85,312
110	November 28, 2015	Stillwater	#3 Oklahoma	58–23	58,231
111	December 3, 2016	Norman	#5 Oklahoma	38–20	87,527
112	November 4, 2017	Stillwater	#5 Oklahoma	62–52	56,790
113	November 10, 2018	Norman	#6 Oklahoma	48–47	87,635
114	November 30, 2019	Stillwater	#7 Oklahoma	34–16	54,575
115	November 21, 2020	Norman	#18 Oklahoma	41–13	22,700
Series: Oklahoma leads 90–18–7

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.

Wrestling

Oklahoma State holds a lopsided advantage in the schools' wrestling rivalry, the original "Bedlam Series." 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.

See also

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

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.