Why the Bedlam Rivalry Is Now the Big 12's Most Important Game

The Big 12 game of the year could still fall on the last weekend in November. It just won't be the Nov. 27th meeting between Baylor and TCU in Fort Worth. Rather, look one day later, Nov. 28th, and about 250 miles to the north to Stillwater, Oklahoma. That may be the date and location at which the Big 12's playoff hopes are realized or squandered. 

Thanks to undefeated Oklahoma State keeping pace over Iowa State and Oklahoma's win over Baylor, the Big 12 title—and maybe more—could go through the state of Oklahoma, not Texas, in a few weeks. 

"Go into their backyard on a night like tonight and play this way, you know, we're one of those teams that has a chance," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said about the playoff picture (via Ralph Russo of the Associated Press). 

Stoops is right. The Sooners looked like a long shot for the playoff a couple of weeks ago. The midseason loss to Texas still looms as one of the more head-scratching events of the 2015 season, especially since it appears the Longhorns will not be making a bowl game. 

However, four teams ranked in the Top 10 of the College Football Playoff poll lost Saturday, while Oklahoma picked up its biggest win of the year on the road. Come Tuesday, when the selection committee releases its new Top 25, don't be surprised if the Sooners and Cowboys are lurking right outside the Top Four. 

There are still myriad scenarios across college football to mold the playoff picture. But, for simplicity purposes, there's a major emphasis on the Bedlam game that wasn't there before. 

And, well, that would be just fine. College football's realignment facelift has taken all the natural beauty out of the sport anyway. An in-state Big 12 rivalry rife with playoff ramifications would be a welcome throwback. 

The Bedlam rivalry between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State doesn't have the same historical passion (or balance) as the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas. However, the Bedlam game has carried more significance at both the conference and national level in recent years. From 2010-12, the winner of the Bedlam game went on to win the Big 12. 

Justin Hayworth/Associated Press

The precursors for Bedlam on Nov. 21st cannot be overemphasized, though. 

In Week 12, Oklahoma State hosts Baylor while the Sooners get TCU at home. The Bears and Frogs are banged up, too—who isn't this time of year?—allowing Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to get their toughest opponents at the most opportune time. 

Though TCU hasn't confirmed the exact severity of the injury, head coach Gary Patterson is hopeful quarterback Trevone Boykin will be able to play against the Sooners after leaving Saturday's game against Kansas with an apparent ankle injury. As for Baylor, head coach Art Briles confirmed after Saturday's loss to Oklahoma that freshman quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who is already playing in place of the injured Seth Russell, sustained a back injury on the first series of the game.

What cannot be determined right now is how the selection committee views possible wins over Baylor and TCU with those aforementioned injuries in mind. It may leave Oklahoma and Oklahoma State at smaller margins for error, but just how small has yet to be seen. 

All the same, the best-case scenario for the Bedlam game doesn't change, and that is for Oklahoma State to enter it undefeated while Oklahoma maintains its one-loss status. An undefeated Big 12 team is, without question, getting into the playoff. There simply won't be enough undefeated teams at the end of the year for there to even be a debate. 

But Russo believes the Sooners are the best option for a one-loss Big 12 team getting into the playoff: 

If Oklahoma does win out in the month of November, things get less cut-and-dry in the big picture. The committee's decision may come down to the Sooners and Notre Dame if each team is 11-1. At that point, it's more about what the committee values more: wins or loses. 

As Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports writes, the committee has shown a tendency to put a greater emphasis on victories: 

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But the committee members pretty clearly demonstrated last season, and in its first couple of rankings this season, that who you beat matters more to them than who you lost to. Thus, Ohio State got in last year despite an early 35-21 home loss to 6-6 Virginia Tech, and Alabama has already risen to No. 2 this year despite allowing 43 points in a home loss to Ole Miss.

Also working in Oklahoma's favor is that unlike its fellow Big 12 contenders, the Sooners went on the road and notched a nice out-of-conference victory at Tennessee, now 6-4. Much like his Manziel-esque fourth-quarter touchdown Saturday night at Baylor, Mayfield's fourth-quarter heroics saved the Sooners in that one.

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Still, the undeniable focal point either way would be Texas, of all teams. The Longhorns were stomped in Week 1 by Notre Dame 38-3, but pulled off the stunning upset over Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. Whether that is the deciding factor or not, it will inevitably be discussed. 

If Texas somehow keeps its hated rival out of the playoff, it would go down as one of the all-time great trolling jobs. As one of the richest athletic programs in the country, according to USA Today numbers, it's not like Texas needs playoff money from the Big 12. 

November was going to be an entertaining and telling month in the Big 12. Those two things have already come to fruition. If the last two weeks have taught us anything, it's that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could lose in Week 12 and all of this becomes a moot point. Chaos, after all, has no prejudice. 

But if the Sooners and Cowboys win next week, the Bedlam game becomes the most important game in the Big 12. Depending on how the national landscape plays out, it could be among the more influential games in college football this season. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand.