S-E-C Ya Later, Pokes

In fall 2014, I was an intern for the OU athletics department, specifically the sports information team, meaning the PR guys. We managed the teams’ social media accounts, wrangled the media for midweek and postgame football press conferences, kept stats, updated the website – you know, stuff like that. It was pretty dry stuff, honestly, hence why I’m not doing it anymore. But it did give me incredible access to the team.

OU at the time was coming off a shocking Sugar Bowl upset over Alabama to cap the 2013 season. Things were looking bright. But as it turns out, fall 2014 was not an ideal time to be inside the OU football program.

The Sooners suffered several stupid losses that season, but perhaps none was dumber than Bedlam 2014, when Oklahoma blew a 14-point lead in the final 5 minutes and allowed a 92-yard punt return from Tyreek Hill to tie the game at 35; OSU won in overtime.

The misery was compounded by the fact that Hill’s return came only after Bob Stoops inexplicably accepted a penalty for running into the kicker on the previous punt and chose to punt again to the dangerous Hill. The return helped end a five-game OSU losing streak and made the Cowboys bowl-eligible.

It was also the last time OU lost a Bedlam football game.

Now, the future of the whole series is in jeopardy with the news that my Sooners will be disembarking for the Southeastern Conference in 2025. In truth, they will probably be gone much faster than that, and possibly as early as 2022. This year’s Big 12 Bedlam could be the last one ever; and as much as the Cowboys would like to stick it to the backstabbing Sooners, it doesn’t look like they have a great shot this year. OU is a legitimate national title contender, while it would be a surprise to see OSU appear in its first Big 12 Championship Game.

I like Bedlam. I think it’s fun. But as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not from around here. So if moving to the SEC means the end of Bedlam – well, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

To be clear: Bedlam isn’t dead yet. Not by a long shot. On Friday, OU President Joe Harroz said he wants “to play Oklahoma State in every sport in every year.”

But OSU President Kayse Shrum responded on Twitter that “there are too many unknowns to determine what the future holds” when it comes to the iconic game. Not quite so encouraging.

I think it goes without saying that OSU needs Bedlam more thank Oklahoma does. Not from a win-loss perspective, of course; the Cowboys have notched 18 wins, 90 losses and seven ties against their in-state rivals since the series began. Between 1946 and 1964, OU beat Oklahoma State 19 consecutive times.

But from a monetary perspective, and from the fans’ point of view, OSU should want this series to continue. And let’s be honest – how much more fun would it be to beat the SEC Sooners than the current Big 12 version? Can I get an ironic S-E-C chant, anyone?

I’m a Texan by birth. My primary concern is that the Sooners play and beat the University of Texas in Dallas each October. (Which we managed to accomplish, barely, while I was interning there in 2014.) So if Bedlam continues, great. If it doesn’t, I now have annual matchups against teams like Auburn, Alabama and LSU to look forward to, instead, with the Red River Showdown firmly intact.

It seems to me that the future of Bedlam is threatened not so much by OU’s move, but by OSU’s feelings. Last week Shrum tweeted that OU “broke a bond of trust” between the universities and acted “to the detriment of the State of Oklahoma.” OSU alum turned college hoops pundit Doug Gottlieb tweeted that OU “has done irreparable harm to their brother institution.”

I want OSU to land on its feet in a Power Five conference. OSU deserves at least that much. But the Sooners did right by themselves, which is all anyone should ask or expect of them.

I look forward to the future of Bedlam as a vibrant and competitive nonconference game. I hope OSU feels the same.