While the football and basketball games stand today as the marquee events in the Bedlam Series, the term "Bedlam" actually began with the rivalry between the schools' prestigious wrestling programs,[6] more particularly the raucous crowds that attended the matches held at Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena.

At one point during the game when the Oklahoma A&M Aggies were punting, the wind carried the ball backwards behind the kicker.

Since a touchdown was at stake, members of both teams dove into the icy waters to recover the ball.

In 2007, author Steve Budin, whose father was a New York bookie, publicized a claim that the 1954 Bedlam Game was fixed by mobsters in his book Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll (ISBN 1-60239-099-1).

[10] Allegedly, the mobsters threatened and paid off a cook to slip laxatives into a soup consumed by many OU Sooner starting players, causing them to fall violently ill in the days leading up to the game.

One possible reason for the Sooners' lackluster performance, according to one coach, was that the players were "beat up" from the previous game against Nebraska.

After Oklahoma left the Big 12 to become an SEC member starting with the 2024–25 collegiate athletic season, in September 2024, the Sooners and Cowboys announced an agreement to continue the series as a non-conference matchup starting that year, beginning with a neutral venue game held in December 2024 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

[4][5] Oklahoma State holds a lopsided advantage in the schools' wrestling rivalry, the original "Bedlam Series.