Bedlam Football Game Moved to December

The Bedlam game traditionally has been played during Thanksgiving weekend.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:19 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Apr 8, 2011 2:11 PM CDT

Oklahoma Sports Staff

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference announced Friday that the annual Bedlam football game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will be moved to December this year.

The game will be played in Stillwater on Dec. 3 and will be televised on ABC at either 2:30 or 7 p.m. It will be part of what has become known as “Championship Saturday,” and will take place on the same day that the Big 12 used to have its conference championship game.

But with Nebraska and Colorado no longer in the conference, leaving it with 10 teams, a Big 12 Championship Game no longer will be played.

“The Big 12 Conference has moved into a new era,” OSU athletic director Mike Holder said in a statement. “We are excited to host Bedlam on one of the biggest days of the college football season.”

The Bedlam game traditionally has been played during the week of Thanksgiving in November. The last time the teams did not play that weekend came in 2004, when they faced each other on Oct. 30.

Oklahoma State will host the Bedlam game for the second straight season, as the conference accommodates the new schedule that features nine conference games instead of eight.

With the elimination of the conference title game, whichever team has the best regular-season record will win the Big 12 and be eligible for a BCS bowl bid.

The Bedlam game now will be played the same weekend that previously was reserved for high school state championship games, also played at Boone Pickens Stadium. That means championship games will need to move, and the OSSAA is working on figuring out exactly where games will be played next season.

“We haven’t made any plans as of yet,” David Jackson of the OSSAA said. “We just caught wind of this earlier this year.”

The 6A state title game was played at the University of Tulsa in 2009, which Jackson said is a possibility next season. But it also is possible for TU to host the Conference-USA Championship Game, which would take place the same day.

“Anything’s possible. I wouldn’t know any particular site as of yet,” Jackson said. “It’s going to take us talking to people to see what’s possible.”

Jackson said he expects the issue to be decided by early summer after all the activities for the current year are completed.

“We want to get it done as soon as we can so we can get the word out.”