Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy suggested a potential spring-game matchup between his program and Oklahoma at a press conference on Tuesday.
NEW: Mike Gundy suggests reviving Bedlam in a spring game vs. Oklahoma👀“I think it’s a great idea… We should do a home-and-home with OU in the spring… Charge $25 a head, they can use it for NIL.”(via @pistolsguys, h/t @pokesNtexans)https://t.co/Awte13jKRs pic.twitter.com/26vGLfHZhi
— On3 (@On3sports) March 25, 2025
The schools had an intense rivalry, “Bedlam”, since 1904, long held as one of the most important and well-attended games of the season for each team. It was full of emotion — fans maintained hatred for the opposing team and an immense amount of love for their own school. But it ended with Oklahoma’s move to the SEC in July 2024.
Gundy sees the potential spring scrimmage as a way to revive the rivalry, engaging fans and increasing each school’s NIL capabilities. However, it would in no fashion be like any Bedlam game in the past with potential restrictions to limit injuries as well as other differences. The pure sentiment of the scrimmage, though, would likely be enough for fans to still enjoy it.
“The ability to be able to see rival teams play, even if it's, you're in a spring game, it's not going to be like a fall-time game, where it's full on, you're going to have some rules in place to better protect the players and everything … it's still going to be fun,” Cody Havard, professor of sports commerce at the University of Memphis and publisher in the Journal of Sport Behavior, said. “It still could be an opportunity for people to be able to see their teams.”
Despite the excitement for fans, it all comes down to business — for the schools and for television networks. With the potential enactment of the idea, the SEC Network and the Big 12 Network would likely have a conflict over broadcasting the event. As Gundy, Havard and others believe, it could facilitate fan interest, which networks would want to capitalize off of.
“This would definitely be something they would want on SEC Network +, and I'm sure … the Big 12 Network is going to want that too because they're going to want to have the ability of their fans to be able to watch Oklahoma State, which is also technically with ESPN +,” Havard said. “So I think television, these being televised events, to me, just hearing about all of this and reading about it, that seems like that's one of the major concerns.”
Networks, fans and the profit of the schools — it’s all a fair discussion.
The idea arose after Oklahoma announced on March 3, it will replace its annual spring game with the “Crimson Combine” (fan-engagement activities like autograph and photo sessions in addition to drills), following suit of programs like Texas, Alabama, Nebraska and others in eliminating spring games. Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables says the change is because of injuries.
“The injuries … that did have a little bit to do with our decision on the spring game,” Venables said.
While Venables, in partnership with athletic director Joe Castiglione, effectively made the choice for the team, the spring game is something the players would have appreciated even with the added health risk.
“Personally, it’s definitely cool to come out here and showcase in a game-style format,” junior defensive lineman PJ Adebawore said.
Regardless of how players felt about the spring game, the Sooners are forgoing the annual event and hoping for a more community-based event.
“This is a brand-new spring football tradition for our fans," Castiglione said. "Crimson Combine will spotlight our players while also giving our fans the ability to get closer to the action and have the chance to engage directly with our team and coaching staff. We're planning some unique activities that will highlight our players and provide high-entertainment value for everyone in attendance."
But as far as what these fan-entertaining and team-highlighting events look like, not even the players know.
“I don’t really know what we’re going to be doing,” Adebawore said at Oklahoma's media availability on Tuesday before all the media members laughed.
Neither the media or players understand the look of the replacement, but the action aligns with college football’s ever-changing environment since the NCAA allowed for college athletes to make profit from their name, image and likeness on July 1, 2021.
“It's definitely different,” redshirt junior defensive back Gentry Williams said. “But I think college football is at a different point right now, and everything is changing, and everything's evolving.”
The balance of change is Nebraska’s main reason for eliminating the game for its program.
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule understands the chaotic world of the transfer portal and how other teams may wish to recruit players with the help of NIL at any time. With this in mind, Rhule took the game away to lessen the eyes on his team.
“First school I heard was University of Nebraska canceling (its) spring game, and Matt Rhule actually said he was canceling it because he didn't want other schools trying to make offers to their players after the games,” Havard said. “These are big, televised games that other schools could watch and make offers following the games.”
The fear is real for programs — risk of injuries and difficulties with retention. Teams are not eager to encourage any way that allows other schools to be better able to recruit their players.
However, in the absence of a spring game, they lose the fans, as some cannot afford typical games and benefit from a relaxed event that is often cheaper — just like Gundy proposes.
“It's an unfortunate consequence of this idea of the transfer portal … The fans that can't afford to go to some of the regular-season games, this may have been their opportunity,” Havard said.
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.
