The annual Bedlam collection between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will not be anticipated to continue when the Sooners go away the Big 12 for the SEC in 2025, in accordance to athletic administrators from each colleges. The rivalry is among the longest steady rivalries in school soccer.
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have performed 112 years in a row relationship again to a 12-0 victory by the Sooners over then-Oklahoma A&M in 1910, three years after Oklahoma grew to become a state. However, either side declare that the rivalry recreation can’t be labored out logistically within the coming years as a nonconference contest.
“It presents logistical issues under our current [scheduling] structure,” Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg advised The Action Network. “We don’t have any openings to play them. We’re full. Unless there are significant undertakings to make the game happen, it can’t happen.”
The Cowboys have three nonconference video games scheduled in 5 of the subsequent six seasons. The 2025 season — when the Sooners are anticipated to depart for the SEC — stays the one opening. However, scheduling contracts are sometimes damaged. In 2019, Michigan canceled a series with UCLA with a $1.5 million buyout so as to schedule extra dwelling video games.
Oklahoma has just a few extra openings. The 2025 and 2026 seasons are full of a home-and-home collection with Michigan, however the Sooners are vast open from 2027 on. Oklahoma additionally has a Power Five nonconference slot open in 2024, however the Sooners aren’t formally slated to go away for the SEC till 2025. There is a few chatter that Oklahoma may purchase out their Big 12 contract a yr early.
The logistical points current a hurdle, however the dangerous blood actually goes again to Oklahoma’s determination to abandon the Big 12. These two applications have been steady convention mates since Oklahoma State joined the Big Eight Conference in 1960. However, the Sooners opted to chase extra money within the SEC and left Oklahoma State in what appeared on the time to be a collapsing Big 12.
The Bedlam collection is simply the newest main school soccer rivalry to be decimated by realignment. Oklahoma’s rivalry recreation with Nebraska broke up for 11 years after the Cornhuskers left for the Big Ten. Texas and Texas A&M haven’t performed because the Aggies left the Big 12. The Backyard Brawl between West Virginia and Pitt took an 11-year break after each applications left for various conferences.
“Oklahoma State has shown no interest to schedule any future games in football,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione advised The Action Network. “So we’re moving on.”
However, Oklahoma State’s perspective is pointed.
“It is one of the consequences of OU’s decision [to join the SEC],” Weiberg mentioned. “It’s disappointing for the people of the state of Oklahoma.”
While the rivalry won’t be performed in soccer, Bedlam is anticipated to continue in all different sports activities. While soccer is the marquee matchup between these two colleges, the boys’s basketball and wrestling Bedlam contests are hotly contested. The Sooners maintain a 141-102 benefit in basketball, however the Cowboys maintain a 147-27-10 file in wrestling.
story by The Texas Tribune Source link
