Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy wants to bring back the famed ‘Bedlam’ rivalry against Oklahoma in a highly unusual way.
Gundy proposed a spring scrimmage between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State as a way to revive the long-standing rivalry, which has gone dormant since the Sooners moved to the SEC. The Oklahoma State coach even suggested two games on consecutive weekends, with each school hosting one of them.
“Honestly, that’s something we’ve talked about,” Gundy said, via Austin Nivison of CBS Sports. “I think it’s a great idea. I had kind of forgot about it until it got brought up. … Honestly, for us, we should do a home and home with OU in the spring.
“Charge 25 bucks per head. They can use it for NIL. We’ll use it for NIL.”
If Oklahoma does not want to play two games, Gundy suggested that the teams do it annually and rotate home venues while splitting the gate receipts.
“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,” Gundy added. “We’re moving towards the NFL. Why not do that? I think it’d be a great idea.”
The idea of NFL-style joint practices has suddenly gained steam after Deion Sanders said he wanted to do it at Colorado. NCAA rules currently prohibit such arrangements, but if enough schools pushed for a change, they could probably make it happen. If a staunch traditionalist like Gundy is fond of the idea, it’s probably a popular proposal.
The Sooners and Cowboys have faced off 118 times in football, with the most recent game taking place in 2023. Gundy has taken shots at Oklahoma for their role in ending the tradition by jumping from the Big 12 to the SEC for the 2024 season.
