Football
A Brief History of Bedlam Lines, and Why a 2018 OSU Win Wouldn’t be Crazy
Mike Gundy will try again to shed some Bedlam demons on Saturday.
The year might be different. The teams might be different. Heck, the coaches are different. But Vegas sees this year’s Bedlam matchup a lot like it saw the one in 2014. Maybe that’s a good thing for an Oklahoma State team that is now 1-3 straight up as the favorite against OU in the Mike Gundy era following last year’s 62-52 defeat.
OSU was a 3-point favorite going into the game, even though Baker Mayfield had never lost a road game in the Big 12. This year they’re an 17.5-point dog, which ties the second-biggest spread in the last 14 years of this game. Only 2014 was bigger, and Gundy’s first year in 2005 matched the 17.5 number.
Year | Favorite | Spread | Location | Won? | Covered? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Oklahoma | -17.5 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2017 | Oklahoma State | -3 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2016 | Oklahoma | -12 | Norman | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2015 | Oklahoma | -7.5 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2014 | Oklahoma | -19.5 | Norman | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State |
2013 | Oklahoma State | -10 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2012 | Oklahoma | -6 | Norman | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State |
2011 | Oklahoma State | -3.5 | Stillwater | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State |
2010 | Oklahoma State | -2.5 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2009 | Oklahoma | -8 | Norman | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2008 | Oklahoma | -10 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2007 | Oklahoma | -13.5 | Norman | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2006 | Oklahoma | -5.5 | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
2005 | Oklahoma | -17.5 | Norman | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
The good news for Gundy and Co. is that OSU has as many wins in this series as at least a 17.5-point underdog as it does as a favorite. Oklahoma State should (and hopefully will) play as a team with nothing to lose on Saturday, which will be a deviation from the past three Bedlams in which OSU often played with its mullets in a knot.
So while the stakes aren’t as high (or even remotely close to as high) as recent years, OSU still has a real chance to tally another ruined postseason itinerary for the Sooners. I don’t know if there’s solace in that or not, but I do know that to do it OSU will have to pull off what would be the second-biggest upset in the recent Gundy-era history of this game.
And if they don’t? Lincoln Riley will have as many Bedlam wins in his first 521 days as OU coach as Mike Gundy has had in his 5,059 days in Stillwater.