It's not Oklahoma State's fault that the Bedlam football rivalry with Oklahoma is ending after the 2023 season, at least in the eyes of Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy.

Gundy discussed the move away from the rivalry with the Sooners heading to the SEC with Brett McMurphy of Action Network:

"When Oklahoma decided to leave the Big 12, they chose to end Bedlam. It's a one-sided deal. People were trying to decide what happened and what needs to happen to make it go on. They kept pushing Oklahoma State into it. We didn't have jack to do with that. They left the conference, Bedlam goes with it. The SEC eventually will go to a nine-game schedule, I'm sure Oklahoma has a Power 5 team they're playing every year. We would have a difficult time matching up with them in nonconference. We're scheduled out through '37. We're not responsible to change what we do because they left the conference. It's real simple. They chose to get into the SEC. That's the choice they made."

A similar situation happened in the Big 12 when Texas A&M moved to the SEC.

That temporarily ended the Aggies' rivalry games with Texas since they were no longer in the same conference, although the series will renew in the near future with the Longhorns set to join the SEC along with Oklahoma.

Gundy and the Cowboys may be feeling left behind, but a pause in the rivalry with the Sooners probably isn't the worst thing for their football program.

After all, Oklahoma is a dominant 82-20-7 in the series dating back to 1914. It seemed like things might have been shifting when Oklahoma State won back-to-back matchups in 2001 and 2002, but the Sooners have won 17 of the last 20 since that blip.

The game is typically defined by offensive fireworks, but last year's matchup was a low-scoring affair that Oklahoma won 28-13.

There may be some frustration from Cowboys fans and players about the end of the rivalry—along with some finger pointing from their head coach—but the team should have a better opportunity to accumulate more wins and compete for better bowl games in the new-look Big 12.

While Cincinnati, UCF, BYU and Houston are solid incoming programs, they don't have the history and tradition of Texas and Oklahoma.

And they don't have the track record of dominance against Oklahoma State that the Sooners do, both throughout history and in the past 20 years.

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