10 games that defined the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State Bedlam series - ESPN

College football gives us different types of rivalries. There's the matchup of bluebloods, the games that have pretty reliably played roles in title races through the decades — games like Michigan-Ohio State, Oklahoma-Texas or, back in the day, Oklahoma-Nebraska or Florida State-Miami. There are the countless middleweight rivalries between local teams that recruit against each other, think about one another constantly, grow to hate each other with a passion and use a win over said rival as the No. 1 determinant of a successful season. Think of Minnesota-Wisconsin (tied at 62-62-8 all time) or, in another lifetime, Missouri-Kansas (57-54-9 Mizzou).

Then there are the lopsided and inconsistent rivalries, the ones involving a big dog and a really annoyed neighbor. There are quite a few blowouts in this type of series, and the big dog likely holds a huge lead in the all-time series. But when these games do pop, they pop louder than any others.

These are the games we could be losing in next year's round of conference realignment. Oregon has gone 35-12-1 over its past 48 games against Oregon State, for instance, but the Ducks' losses in 2020 and 2022 (and their win in 2013) were among the best games of the past decade. And in the Apple Cup, Washington leads rival Washington State by a 75-33-6 margin, but every Wazzu win, from 2021's 40-13 blowout to 2008's classic 16-13 victory that capped a 0-12 Washington season, has been incredibly memorable. With Oregon and Washington leaving for the Big Ten next year and leaving their in-state rivals behind, it's unclear when or how frequently these incredible rivalry games will be played again.

Bedlam, the annual battle between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, is the ultimate example in this