Bedlam Series

Bedlam Series

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

150km
100miles

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma

  

Locations of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State

The Bedlam Series was the name given to the Oklahoma–Oklahoma State rivalry.^[1][2] It refers to the athletics rivalry between Oklahoma State University Cowboys and Cowgirls of the Big 12 Conference and the University of Oklahoma Sooners of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). 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 rivalry concluded as an annual conference matchup after 2023–24 season, after which Oklahoma joined the SEC. 40 years of the rivalry's games were played without the teams playing in the same conference, and it is possible that the series may continue beyond that date.^[3]

The Bedlam Series was, 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.

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,^[4] more particularly the raucous crowds that attended the matches held at Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena.^[5]