NCAA basketball rivalries: Ranking the top 25 college basketball rivalries

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: A fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels (L) and the Duke Blue Devils pose for a photo while holding a sign referring to the Duke/UNC rivalry during the semifinals of the ACC Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

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No. 23 – Oklahoma Sooners vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys

All-Time Series: Oklahoma leads 140-100

The Bedlam Series, as it is known, is among the longest-running intrastate college basketball rivalries in the country, and while the annual matchups between the Sooners and Cowboys might be better known in college football, these programs and their status in the hierarchy of college basketball lore certainly make the college hoops version among the more notable clashes for each school on the schedule each year.

This one has its share of history with Oklahoma St having won the 1944 and 1945 national championships under legendary coach Henry Iba, and six Final Four appearances, the most recent in 200 and 2004 under recent hall of fame inductee coach Eddie Sutton. Oklahoma has its own share of history and has gone to five Final Fours, including in 2002 under Kelvin Sampson and 2016 under Lon Kruger, and having notable alumni including NBA stars Blake Griffin and Buddy Hield.

Game of Note: March 12, 2009 – Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals – Oklahoma St. def No. 6 Oklahoma 71-70

Before Oklahoma’s march to the Elite 8 with Blake Griffin, the Sooners matched up with their in-state Bedlam rivals for the third time in 2009 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. In a game widely expected to go OU’s way, given that the Sooners had won the previous five matchups between the schools, the Cowboys pulled off a stunner with two key free throws at the end of the game en route to a 71-70 victory, a win that firmed up OSU’s NCAA Tournament prospects (eight-seed). The Sooners would earn a two-seed that season and fall to top-ranked North Carolina in the Elite 8.

True to the name, when the Sooners and Cowboys lace them up on the hardwood, you can be sure bedlam will indeed ensue.