Will Another Oklahoma State Transfer Commit to Oklahoma?
Oklahoma State’s transfers have ended all over the country, including a growing number of former Cowboys in Norman.
Bedlam football has been one of the hottest topics in the state of Oklahoma over the past few years. With the Sooners’ move to the SEC, the century-long rivalry came to a screeching halt in 2024. With neither side eager to cater to the other’s needs to renew the rivalry, its resumption is unlikely anytime in the near future.
While there is no doubt the fans on each side are still invested in the rivalry, and the fun hatred of college rivalries is still alive, the lack of any matchups on the schedule could contribute to the recent transfer portal phenomenon. Over the past few years, multiple key players for OSU have made the move to Norman.
Trace Ford was a high-profile move after the 2022 season and even talked trash about his former team ahead of OSU’s win in 2023. While he still had to play against his former school in an intense environment, none of the players who make the same move have that challenge anymore.
Kendal Daniels became the most recent player to transfer from OSU to OU, and some outlets have predicted that OSU’s latest portal entry, Jeff Roberson, could be taking the same path. For players so intertwined with Cowboy football and the OSU program, it would’ve been unheard of for players to make this type of move in years prior.
Considering the teams no longer match up, the rivalry becomes almost a non-factor in these moves. Instead, it has become a matter of a player wanting a different situation but still staying close to home, as Daniels and Roberson are both Oklahoma natives. It has even gone the other way as well, with Gavin Freeman and Kalib Hicks making the transition from OU to Stillwater over the past couple of years.
Conference realignment and the transfer portal have had a significant impact on basically every part of college football, and players transferring to their former school’s biggest rivals is something that won’t be going away.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.