How Past Win-and-In Games Have Gone for Oklahoma State
Win and in.
It’s a spot Mike Gundy’s teams have been in before and one that his team this season currently faces. With a win against BYU on Saturday, Oklahoma State will secure a spot in the Big 12 Championship against Texas.
Under Gundy, OSU has had its fair share of regular-season games that decided either a spot in the Big 12 Championship or the title outright. Those games have marked some of the brightest moments in program history but also some of the most crushing losses.
Let’s take a look at each of those games in the Gundy era:
2010 - Oklahoma 47 Oklahoma State 41
For the first time under Gundy, the Cowboys had a chance to make the conference championship with a win in their 12th game. To do so, they would also have to beat Oklahoma for the first time under Gundy.
OSU fell in a shootout in Stillwater and ceded the Big 12 South title to OU. After Bedlam, OU won the conference title against Nebraska and the Fiesta Bowl against Connecticut.
Meanwhile, OSU beat Arizona handily in the Alamo Bowl to send it into 2011 with momentum.
2011 - Oklahoma State 44 Oklahoma 10
In another Bedlam game, the Cowboys came out on top. With the conference dropping to 10 teams, this game served as the Big 12 Championship.
After the win, OSU capped off the best season in school history with a Fiesta Bowl win against No. 4 Stanford. The loss sent OU to the Insight Bowl, where it beat Iowa.
2013 - Oklahoma 33 Oklahoma State 24
Once again, Bedlam in Stillwater decided the Big 12, but the Sooners could only play spoiler. And spoiler, they were.
A late touchdown pass from Blake Bell to Jalen Saunders gave OU the lead and ended OSU’s conference title hopes. OSU’s loss meant Baylor won the Big 12 and the conference’s final BCS bid.
OSU ended up in the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Missouri, while Baylor lost to UCF in the Fiesta Bowl.
2015 - Oklahoma 58 Oklahoma State 23
Baylor’s loss to TCU on a miserable November night meant Bedlam was the de facto Big 12 Championship game again. The game was just as competitive as 2011’s edition but in the other direction.
OU ran for 344 yards against OSU to win the conference and earn the Big 12’s first College Football Playoff appearance, losing to Clemson. Despite the loss, OSU still made a New Year’s Six appearance but lost 48-20 to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.
2016 - Oklahoma 38 Oklahoma State 20
A season that got off to a poor start for both Oklahoma teams ended with a Bedlam meeting that determined the Big 12. OSU kept the game in Norman close, entering halftime tied at 17, but had an awful second half to fall in the biggest game of the season again.
OU earned a spot in the Sugar Bowl with the conference championship and beat Auburn. OSU’s loss sent it to the Alamo Bowl for one of the premier wins in the Mason Rudolph era, beating No. 10 Colorado 38-8.
2023
OSU has won only one of these games in the past two decades but has a chance to write a new chapter on Saturday. This season’s team is probably not as good as any of the teams mentioned above.
However, this will be the first time one of these games has come against anyone other than a ranked OU team. The Cowboys control their destiny as they have before, but as a heavy favorite against BYU, they are poised to win and clinch a spot in Arlington.
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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.