Oklahoma destroys WVU, and the Big 12 standings come down to Bedlam

No. 9 Oklahoma beat West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday, 56-28, knocking the Mountaineers out of the Big 12 race and setting up a winner-takes-all rivalry game in two weeks. Whoever wins Bedlam between OU and Oklahoma State on Dec. 3 will win the conference and, at worst, make a New Year’s Six bowl.

The Sooners are 8-0 in conference play, and the Cowboys are 7-1 after winning earlier Saturday at TCU. An OU win in Bedlam, in Norman, means an outright title, while an Oklahoma State win would swing the league to the Pokes via head-to-head tiebreaker. The game also decided the Big 12 last year, when OU won in a rout and took the conference championship outright.

After some midfield-logo-related scuffling before the game, the Sooners came out fast on a snowy track. Some serious winter weather moved through Morgantown right around kickoff time, making for a cool scene.

The Sooners started fast, and they had a 14-0 lead not even six minutes into the game. Then it was 21, and then 28. It was a blowout immediately. OU seized the upper hand quickly, made it even more lopsided, and never let WVU get up off the mat.

This was a blowout through and through. It was never anything different, even if a few late WVU scores made the final margin look semi-respectable. Cheers, though, to WVU running back Justin Crawford, who went well over 300 rushing yards in defeat.

West Virginia came into the game with a credible, if unlikely, path to winning the conference. The Mountaineers needed to win and have Oklahoma beat OSU next week, which would’ve left WVU and OU tied atop the league with one loss. The Mountaineers, by winning their last two games, then, would have taken the Big 12.

That’s not happening now, of course. The Mountaineers can’t win the league, and neither can anyone outside of Bedlam. That game’s going to be fascinating, and the winner will walk away with all of the Big 12’s marbles.