Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State: All You Need to Know Ahead of Bedlam Rivalry

Oklahoma undergoes the first of two crucial games that will determine its College Football Playoff destiny when it takes on Oklahoma State on Saturday.

The Sooners continued to live dangerously last week, scraping past Texas Christian University 28-24 just seven days after needing a record comeback to have the better of Baylor.

Despite the close win, Oklahoma climbed up two spots to No. 7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

The inclusion of Oklahoma State—at No. 21—and Iowa State in the Top 25 means the Sooners could end the regular season as a one-loss team with three wins over ranked opponents.

As shown in the below graphic provided by Statista, Alabama is ranked two spots above Oklahoma at No. 5, but its season could be over it if loses to Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saturday, while No. 6 Utah would have just one top-15 win on its resume if it wins the Pac-12 title game against Auburn.

With a Big 12 title game against No. 9 Baylor on the horizon, the Sooners' chances of being one of the four teams earning a CFP spot are firmly in their hands.

Before Oklahoma can look that far, however, it has to take care of business in Stillwater against its state nemeses in the latest installment of the Bedlam rivalry.

The Sooners arrive into Rivalry Week on a three-game winning streak with an offense that ranks first in total offense and fifth-best in scoring.

Coach Lincoln Riley, however, believes points will be hard to come by against the Cowboys, part of a conference-wide trend that has seen defenses improve markedly this season.

"I do think people that know football if they take a true look at what a lot of these defenses are doing right now they're going to see really, really quality defenses, quality coordinators," Riley was quoted as saying by The Oklahoman.

"You can just feel it. I just feel like everybody is a little bit better defensively. [...] These things always go in spurts, they go in trends. But I know what I see on tape and week-in, week-out I'm seeing a lot of good defenses in this league."

Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts has thrown for 3,184 yards, 30 touchdowns passes and six interceptions this season, to which he's added 1,156 rushing yards and 17 scores.

His production on the ground has been crucial to keeping the Sooners ahead of the chains, but Hurts will be tested by a Cowboys defense that ranks second in the Big 12 in rushing defense.

"It's a one-man show," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said in his press conference earlier this week when asked about the threat Hurts carried.

"You gotta give the guy credit. He's taken hit after hit after hit after hit. [...] It's a triple-option just disguised in spread is all it is. So, we gotta stop the quarterback, we gotta tackle him, we gotta get him down."

On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma State is just as threatening, largely thanks to Chuba Hubbard.

The running back leads the nation with 1,832 rushing yards, the fourth-highest total for a single season in Oklahoma State's history.

Hubbard has racked up 200 or more rushing yards in four separate games this season and with two games left on the Cowboys schedule, he could surpass the Big 12 record for rushing yards in a single season.

The record has stood since 1996, when Iowa State's Troy Davis piled up 2,185 yards on the ground.

''He's had a lot of attention on him every week and has still been able to produce,'' Riley was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. ''He seems like a great kid and he's playing his tail off. He's certainly one of the best backs we've had in the league in a long time.''

Oklahoma is on a four-game winning streak against its state rivals, but the winning margin was just one point when the two met last season—and it could be a similarly close affair this weekend.

Here's all you need to know ahead of Saturday.

The Oklahoma Sooners take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday, November 30.

Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

The game will be broadcast nationally on FOX.

A live stream will be available via FOX's digital platforms, the FOX Sports GO app and fuboTV.

The two programs have met 113 times and Oklahoma leads the all-time series with 88 wins to Oklahoma State's 18.

The Sooners are on a four-game winning run against the Cowboys and defeated their state rivals 48-47 in Norman last year.

According to BetOnline, Oklahoma is a 12.5-point favorite and is 9/10 to cover the spread, while Oklahoma State is a 7/2 underdog.

The over/under line in terms of total points scored is set at 69.5.