Great rivalries shouldn’t go away. And this one probably won’t. Here's why.

(This story originally appeared in Berry Tramel’s newsletter. Subscribe here.)

Mike Boynton grew up in Brooklyn, a basketball fan of the Big East, so he knows a thing or two about heated games.

Like OU’s 84-82 overtime Bedlam victory Saturday in Stillwater, won via Javian McCollum’s well-guarded, fallaway 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“It’s about rivalries,” said the OSU basketball coach. “It’s about intense matchups. It’s about homecourt atmospheres. This is what I saw when I watched Georgetown and Syracuse as a little boy, that I wanted to be a part of. It was everything you want in collegiate athletics.”

Not everything. We want more. As in more Bedlams.

Some called this the final OU-OSU basketball game. If so, someone call 911. A crime has been committed.

A game that good deserves an encore. But one is not assured, since the Sooners are headed to the Southeastern Conference and no one knows if the series will be reenacted next winter as a non-conference affair.

We’ve gone 10 years without College Football Playoff expansion, and now we’re fast forwarding to version 3.0. Breathe deeply and realize what’s important right now: expansion favors OU and OSU. Read more from @GuerinEmig here: https://t.co/mZTH7nll52 pic.twitter.com/5OAn5uwRgo

— Sellout Crowd (@selloutcrowd_) February 27, 2024

“I thought Oklahoma State played unbelievable,” said OU coach Porter Moser. “So many big shots by both teams. I thought the atmosphere was elite. I give credit to Oklahoma State and their fans to make that a great rivalry.”

Great rivalries shouldn’t go away. And this one probably won’t. The animosity between coaches (we’re looking at you, softball and women’s basketball) and the schedule-protection (football) and the one-sidedness (hello, wrestling) isn’t prevalent in men’s basketball.

“I see a world where this isn’t our last Bedlam game,” Moser said. “That’s how I see the world.”

I’ve never seen a world that wouldn’t have a Bedlam basketball game. But I also never had seen a world in which Oregon left Oregon State to play in a conference that includes Maryland, and UCLA this autumn plays a league football game at Rutgers, and Cal-Berkeley is in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Will Bedlam basketball return next season?

“I don’t know,” Boynton said. “I don’t necessarily believe I’m going to be the individual decision-maker in that regard. Someone may ask my thoughts on it, but I think that decision will be made above me.

“I think there is a desire to explore what the options are.”

Let’s hope the options are limited to Norman and Stillwater. Nothing is quite so soul-less as a college basketball neutral-court game these days. The sport seems to want to play in foreign countries and on aircraft carriers, in resorts and in NBA arenas. Anywhere, it seems, but college campuses.

You remember college campuses, right? That’s where the latest Bedlam classic was staged.

Gallagher-Iba Arena long has served up spectacular Bedlam theater, from David Little to Victor Williams, and now McCollum joins the list of buzzer-beating Bedlam heroes.

“Hell of a college basketball game,” Boynton said. “Been a part of a few games that have all the elements of a classic, and that certainly ranks up there, and it’s certainly unfortunate for our guys and our fans.

“If this is the last time we play ‘em here, who knows?”

Who knows if Boynton has coached his final Bedlam game? Perhaps he’ll be back as the Cowboy coach, perhaps not. I don’t know.

But if this was Boynton’s final Bedlam, either via pink slip or maddening scheduling, he wanted it bad.

“About as much as I wanted any game I ever played in or coached in,” Boynton said. “I certainly didn’t want to lose it. I understand the gravity of the game, what it means to everybody in the state.”

So let’s keep Bedlam, and let’s keep it on campus. I won’t ask for a home-and-home series every year; spitting in the wind is not a viable strategy. But Norman one year, Stillwater the next. Or Stillwater next season, Norman the year after. Flip a coin.

Or if we luck out and get Bedlam in the Big 12 Tournament, how about the winner gets the 2024-25 home game?

Just don’t let Bedlam basketball die.