The annual rivalry game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State has been moved to Saturday, November 24th by the Big 12 Conference. This year's game was originally scheduled for October 27th. The move means that the game will add to a quality slate of conference games during Thanksgiving weekend. Currently, the Texas-Texas A&M and Nebraska-Colorado rivalry games are played annually on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The OU-OSU game will now join the Missouri-Kansas game – the nation's second most-played rivalry – on that Saturday.
The decision to move the Bedlam game was prompted by ... wait for it ... television revenues!
We've done this, in part, because on that weekend, you have two play dates, which adds to our potential television windows," [Big 12 assistant commissioner Bob] Burda said. "With these games, we can offer attractive matchups on both Friday and Saturday."It is hard to argue with the move given that all four of the contests are now guaranteed to be televised by either ABC or Fox Sports Net. The move also has the support of OU head coach Bob Stoops who believes it will help his team prepare for the Big 12 Championship game:
"We've played in five of those games during our eight years here, and the only one we didn't win had an open week before we went to play," he said. "Of the four we've won, three went directly from our last regular-season game to the championship game. If that's what works best for us, I'm all for it."Coach Stoops talks as if Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game is a forgone conclusion. Heh. Texas fans have to love that.
