Mike Gundy Proposes Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma Spring Games to Revive Bedlam Rivalry

Oklahoma State head football coach brought up an idea Tuesday to help re-ignite the Bedlam rivalry with Oklahoma.

According to David Ubben of The Athletic, Gundy suggested that Oklahoma State and Oklahoma should meet in a preseason scrimmage, which is a common practice among NFL teams:

"We get tired of practicing against each other. It's not going to be a live game because, well, I don't know what [Oklahoma head coach Brent] Venables would say, but I would be concerned with making it live just because of injury. But nobody really has live scrimmages anymore, so you make it a full thud, like we're doing, and practice against them, just like they do in the NFL. We're moving towards the NFL. Why not do that?'"

Gundy expanded on his idea, saying each school could host a scrimmage on consecutive weekends and charge $25 per ticket, which would be put toward the schools' NIL funds.

Alternatively, he said Oklahoma State and Oklahoma could rotate hosting the scrimmage on a yearly basis and split the proceeds rather than having two scrimmages per year.

The Bedlam rivalry between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma has been played 118 times since 1904 with the Sooners holding a commanding 91-20-7 lead.

However, the Cowboys won two of the past three meetings in 2021 and 2023.

Last season marked the first time since 1909 that Oklahoma State and Oklahoma did not play against each other, and it was due to Oklahoma's decision to leave the Big 12 Conference for the SEC.

Oklahoma State athletic director Chad Weiberg said "logistical issues" caused the end of Bedlam, and there aren't currently any firm plans to bring it back in college football.

An annual scrimmage between the teams wouldn't be a like-for-like replacement, but it would at least satiate fans to some degree and perhaps drum up more excitement than usual for the start of the season.

Gundy's proposal came just a week after Colorado head coach Deion Sanders publicly said that he would have the option to scrimmage against other teams.

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown expressed interest in scrimmaging against Colorado, but it is currently against NCAA rules for opposing teams to scrimmage against each other.

Even so, Colorado and Syracuse submitted paperwork to the NCAA in an effort to gain exemption from that particular bylaw, per Ubben.

If the NCAA grants the request, it could open up a world of possibilities for college football teams, including Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.