Brent Venables responds to Mike Gundy's claim end of Bedlam rivalry is Oklahoma's fault

Brent Venables took some time to respond to Mike Gundy‘s comments about the end of the Bedlam rivalry, where the Oklahoma State leader claimed it’s Oklahoma‘s fault the longtime annual game will come to an end.

On Wednesday, Gundy claimed the Sooners’ move to the SEC effectively ended the rivalry, and that it was a “one-sided deal” in the end.

“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,” Gundy said.

Of course, Venables was asked about Gundy’s fiery response, and if the Bedlam game could continue in some way into the future on Thursday, to which the Sooners leader gave an interesting answer.

“Look, I’m not in control of whether or not we play Oklahoma State,” Venables responded. “I love college football. I love the traditions of the game. I love rivalry games. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have played for over 100 years, and Oklahoma has been dang good in those games, for a long time. But whether or not we play them in the future, nobodies asking me what I think.

“If they do ask me, I’ll tell them what I think. I’d love to play the game. But we’re going to play the schedule that they put in front of us.”

At the end of the day, it isn’t Venables decision, as much as he likely would love to keep Bedlam on the schedule.

Some have theorized Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could get it back on the schedule as a non-conference game, but Gundy is skeptical about that. The SEC could potentially go to a nine-game conference schedule, further limiting Oklahoma’s out-of-conference scheduling possibilities. 

And with Oklahoma State locked in with non-conference games for more than a decade, there’s not a ton of space to try and shoehorn a game in. 

“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 non-conference,” Gundy said. “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.”

Both Brent Venables and Mike Gundy pulled no punches on the situation. Bedlam may be coming to an end, but at least 2023’s iteration should be spicier than ever.

On3’s Andrew Graham contributed to this article.