Thoughts on Bieber and Bedlam

The other day Jake Trotter reported that “neither the Big 12 nor the two Bedlam schools have an announcement, but all signs point to Bedlam moving to December, along with probably at least one other conference game.” (News OK)

This would be terrific for two reasons. First, you get OSU and OU on the same weekend as all the title games which creates unbelievable exposure. “What’s on this weekend, honey?” “Oh, just SC Oregon for the Pac-12 title, Bama Georgia for the SEC title, Ohio St. Illinois for the Big 10 title, and OSU OU (hopefully for the Big 12 title more times than not).” That’s awesome.

Second, you get more of a guarantee for a full house. Do I openly loathe students who refuse to shirk their families during Thanksgiving to travel back to Stillwater for the OU game? Yes, I do, in fact I was pretty disappointed at the full-day turnout for Bedlam this year. The crowd was great but the day-long atmosphere left a lot to be desired. The fact of the matter is that, for most people, Thanksgiving trumps Bedlam (irrational, I know). Bump it back a week, turn the temperature down about ten degrees, and you erase that problem. You also pretty much guarantee yourself never getting College Gameday again but, according to my count, OSU is winless when the ESPN crew is in town anyway (including hoops in 2005) so really, who cares? I’m in.

I have to admit I’ve had a love/hate relationship with this Bieber Gundy ringtone wars thing all week. On one hand, as Nolo texted me  the other day, “this is awesome, SC can have Snoop, OU can have Toby Keith, I’ll take Biebs!” On the other hand, if I read one more article/tweet/text about Gundy being a man or being 40 I’m going to find Prentiss Elliot and have him sell me a gun. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it thereafter but I’m sure going to buy it!

Here’s how OSU needs to capitalize. Book Biebs for Orange Peel this year (I’m sure somebody has had this idea already) and have Gundy go on stage and do his weird dance that sends Orie Lemon into fits of laughter. This would dually break YouTube and also bring some closure to all of this. Plus somebody could give him a tour of campus and see if he wants to apply to go to school here. Or he could, like Gundy suggested, sink some cash into a suite or two and kick it with Boone all season. He’s probably closer to Boone’s tax bracket than anyone else associated with Oklahoma State anyway.

Back with a Texas preview later today.