FINAL THOUGHTS BEFORE BEDLAM

With rumors and innuendo in hand, Oklahoma State inaugurated the 2013 football season with an old fashioned beat down of a mid-level SEC Mississippi State team in Houston. Some proclaimed greatness. The Cowboys ran the ball and defensively stuffed the Bulldogs. Others weren't so sure, since MSU wasn't supposed to be that good anyway. OSU won that game 21-3. Let's see how the Bulldogs faired against a couple othe high profile SEC programs...

-Lost at Auburn, 24-20

-Lost at home to Alabama, 20-7

Based on those scores and the current BCS rankings, that would seem to prove to me that OSU is one of the best teams in the country, and could likely play with anybody.

We wouldn't have said that at the end of September. Thank goodness for West Virginia.

The loss in Morgantown was the beginning of "something" that transformed OSU. David Ubben of Fox Sports SW posted this great piece on Gundy and how he and the coaches decided things needed to change after that loss. It took a couple of games to implement those changes, but once they did, the Cowboys went on a late season tear that has them exactly where so many thought they would be before the season started...

Obvious King of the Big 12, with only a frozen Bedlam standing between them and their rightful spot atop the conference standings. But that "frozen Bedlam" obstructing their path is a huge and unpredictable obstacle, complicated by the intrusion of mother nature.

On Crimson and Cream Machine's Bedlam Preview Podcast this week, the voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland, made some interesting comments.

While I don't have the exact quote, it went something like this...he thought the team seemed to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and that the one thing none of them wanted to talk about was the chance to spoil OSU's season.

This is a golden era of Bedlam.

Now some of you might say that there have been times previously that both teams were pretty darn good in the same seasons. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with this.

However, this is the first time in the modern history of Bedlam that a class of Sooner seniors has been "real" UNDERDOGS in Bedlam twice in their careers. The first time that, with a win by OSU, the Cowboys would claim their second conference title in 3 years. This OU graduating class experienced the worst defeat in modern Bedlam history, as well as the raucous team celebration that erupted after the Sooners claimed the victory last year in the first overtime game in the storied rivalry.

This is a different Bedlam. No longer will OU win "just because" they are OU. Sooner magic is still present, but not guaranteed.

Vegas says the Sooners should get shellacked.

I'll reserve comment on that because, after all, this is Bedlam. Need I remind OSU fans of 2001 and 2002.

Today's final regular season game seems pretty simple to break down.

If OSU can win or draw the turnover battle and stay away from drive killing or drive extending mistakes, they should win comfortably.

If OU's Trevor Knight can make key plays with his legs and his arm (50/150), the Sooners have a real chance at the upset.

But this is rarely simple.

After all, it is Bedlam.

GO POKES!!!