Woah! Spring football was supposed to be all easy-breezy after the chill of winter, right? But college football decided to flip the script. Just when everyone expected a smooth transition into spring games, some head coaches have chosen to shut things down. Matt Rhule, Ryan Day, and a few others have decided to skip the spring game festivities altogether. But then there’s Deion Sanders, always marching to the beat of his own drum. Instead of sticking with the usual format, he’s ready to push the NCAA’s buttons a bit. He wants to switch things up with a real scoring showdown—this time against Fan Brown’s Syracuse Orange.

Yep, it all started with Coach Prime, who came up with the idea of adding a little twist to the usual spring game script. As he put it, “I’d like to play against another team in the spring… To have it competitive, playing against your own guys kind of gets monotonous and you really can’t tell the level of your own guys.” And honestly? He might be on to something. Turns out, Deion isn’t the only one thinking outside the spring football box. Enter Mike Gundy.

The Oklahoma State head coach has also decided it’s time to shake things up. Maybe even more than the possible Colorado-Syracuse scrimmage. Gundy’s spring game idea? He wants a full-on Bedlam matchup against none other than Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners. Now that’s some real spice.

On Tuesday, March 25, Gundy met with reporters in Stillwater and was asked about the growing interest in spring scrimmages against other teams. His response? He called it “great.” And he’s not wrong—what better way to stir things up than reviving one of the most iconic rivalries in college football?

Turns out, Gundy might have been cooking up this plan for a while. He laid out what a spring Bedlam setup might look like. The idea is simple: two games per year, alternating venues, and splitting revenue between the two schools.

“Honestly, for us, we should do a home and home with OU in the spring… They should come here on the 19th. I think their’s is earlier in the year, we should go down there and play a home-and-home against each other in the spring. Charge $25 a head, they can use it for NIL, we can use it for NIL.” Sounds like Gundy’s thought this through. And just in case the Sooners aren’t totally on board for two matchups in one spring, he’s got a backup. He proposed doing one this year and another in 2026—still splitting the gate.

The motivation? Simple. “Because we get tired of practicing against each other,” Mike Gundy said. And while the idea is exciting, he’s still got one major concern: injury. Understandably so. That’s why he clarified that it wouldn’t be a full-contact game.

“It’s not going to be a live game,” Gundy explained, doubling down on player safety. He added, “I would be concerned with making it live just because of injury.” So, while the plan is bold, it’s not reckless. Gundy wants a competitive environment without putting players at unnecessary risk. He’s leaning into the style of the pros—NFL-style practices that prioritize health while still getting in solid reps.

“But nobody really has live scrimmages anymore. So you make it a real thud like we’re doing and practicing against each other, just like they do in the NFL. We’re moving towards the NFL, why not do that? I think it would be a great idea.”

At the heart of it all is one big question: Will the NCAA Division I FBS Oversight Committee approve the idea? They’re set to make a call on April 10, and fans from both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are buzzing. Sleep? Not for these folks—there’s too much excitement in the air.

Gundy’s plan might just be more than a clever spring game idea. It’s a full-blown attempt to bring Bedlam back.

Mike Gundy is setting the stage for another reminder 

Remember, the last time Gundy and Venables squared off was in 2023. That was supposed to be the final chapter of the Bedlam rivalry, as the Sooners packed their bags for the SEC while the Cowboys stayed put in the Big 12. Sure, the two schools still meet in other sports, but football had that sharp line drawn in the sand. Now, Gundy seems willing to go to great lengths to revive it—even in the spring.

“I made a C in political science, and I certainly don’t have a law degree, but I don’t know if you can file a waiver or whatever,” he said. “I don’t know if Coach Venables would be willing to do it. I haven’t talked to him about it, but I just thought about it. I think it’d be a great idea. I don’t know what do y’all think? I mean, I bet the fans would like it.” Spoiler alert: The fans would like it. They’re already buzzing at just the mention of that one word—Bedlam.

Now, if you’re wondering how the term Bedlam ended up attached to this in-state rivalry, here’s a fun nugget. Originally, “bedlam” meant a state of chaos or uproar and came from the name of a medieval health institution in London. Weirdly enough, the football usage isn’t even tied to the rivalry itself. Some say the term came from OSU wrestling. A reporter once described the atmosphere at Gallagher Hall as, “It’s bedlam in there!” And when Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) beat the Sooners for the first time in football back in 1917, The Oklahoman newspaper wrote that “bedlam broke loose.”

Since then, it stuck. And now, with Gundy’s latest push, Bedlam might just get a new chapter—spring-style. The last Bedlam football game ended in a 27–24 win for Oklahoma State. And Mike Gundy might be itching to remind Sooners fans who’s boss in Oklahoma, gifting them some déjà vu.