Bedlam Basketball Set to Continue in Oklahoma City Next Season

The Cowboys and Sooners will play again next season at a neutral site.

Oklahoma Sooners guard Javian McCollum (2) gathers the ball beside Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Jamyron Keller (14) during a Bedlam college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Oklahoma won 66-62. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

Oklahoma State will meet its biggest rival a bit earlier next season.

OSU and Oklahoma men’s basketball will continue to play the Bedlam series next season, according to a report from Jon Rothstein. The matchup is not official yet, but it appears the rivalry will take place in Oklahoma City at the Paycom Center in mid-December.

Last season, OU swept Bedlam in its final season in the Big 12, with Javian McCollum’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer sealing a Sooners win in Stillwater in the final matchup. McCollum’s buzzer beater was a reminder of what has made Bedlam basketball so special over the years. With big moments in various matchups, the rivalry has had extra juice from teams winning a rivalry at home or silencing a hostile environment.

However, with the matchup in Oklahoma City next season, some of that could be lost. Both teams have played games at Paycom Center in the past, but the crowds have not been the same as in an on-campus environment. Last season, OSU beat another in-state rival, Tulsa, in Oklahoma City.

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Next season’s game would mark the 251st meeting between the Cowboys and Sooners, with OU holding a 143-107 lead in the all-time series. That game is also on track to be the first December matchup since the 1976-77 season.

Although the teams have played their regular season matchups in Stillwater and Norman, neutral-site Bedlam matchups are not unusual. Over the past few seasons, the teams have matched up in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, with OSU winning the most recent meeting in 2023. 

The teams most recently played in Oklahoma City in the 2009 Big 12 Tournament, with OSU winning 71-70. Including a couple of low-scoring matchups in 1942 and 1939, OSU is 2-1 when the teams play in Oklahoma City.

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