LUBBOCK, Texas — Quick question: When was the last time Oklahoma entered a Bedlam Series game trying to spoil Oklahoma State's season?

Quicker answer: How about never. At least not in the modern era...anytime post World War II.

For more than 60 years, it's always been OSU trying to knock OU out of the national championship race or a major bowl bid. The closest it came to a role reversal was in 1976, the one and only season OSU won a conference championship in either the Big Eight or Big 12. And while the Pokes whipped the Sooners that season, the two still ended up sharing the Big Eight title.

Don't look now, but that heretofore unheard-of scenario is a reality. It unfolds Saturday at OU's Memorial Stadium when the Sooners are forced to play spoiler against the Cowboys in one of college football's best rivalries.

And, really, a Bedlam victory would be the only thing left for this dazed and confused OU team to hang its helmet on. Before yesterday, OU hoped a Bedlam win would knock OSU out of its first BCS bowl bid and propel the Sooners into the Cotton Bowl, which is considered the best of the non-BCS bowl games.

OU fans no longer have to worry about going to Dallas-Fort Worth to watch their beloved Sooners lose for the third time this season. Texas Tech took care of that by embarrassing OU yesterday at Jones Stadium, 41-13.

The good news is that the Sooners (6-5, 4-3 Big 12) could possibly still land in the Alamo Bowl if they whip the Cowboys (9-2, 6-1) in Bedlam, with a kickoff of 11:30 a.m. set for Owen Field. If not there, the Sun Bowl is also a potential destination.

The really, really bad news for OU is that they'll have to either go to San Antonio or El Paso for those bowls. They won't be able to persuade the good folks at either bowl to move their game to Norman.

In case you hadn't noticed, these Sooners are not road warriors. When they've hit the road, the road has almost always hit back, with yesterday's blowout loss dropping OU to 1-5 away from home this season.

So if OU wants to prevent its first losing record in 11 seasons under coach Bob Stoops, it needs to spoil OSU's Fiesta Bowl dream. A loss to the Pokes would mean the Sooners would stand 6-6 when they venture out of town for the bowl appearance, with an excellent chance to finish 6-7.

The Sooners would have laughed in your facemask had you suggested four months ago that they would be on the brink of a losing season.

"If you would have told me we'd be 6-5 right now, with our Heisman-winning quarterback (Sam Bradford) coming back and all the star power we had coming back," linebacker Travis Lewis said, "I would have been shocked."

Injuries to Bradford and some of those other stars have played a significant role in OU going from a BCS title contender to an also-ran in the Big 12's South Division.

But the injury factor can't be the entire scapegoat for this troubled season. The mystifying lack of success on the road has to fall on Stoops and his staff, who have lost games when they were the better team. And it's not just this season: Stoops' record in his team's last 33 games played out of state is 16-17.

"I can't put my finger on why we can't win on the road," receiver Ryan Broyles said. "I'm at loss for words."

This mediocre road record started when Southern Cal bushwhacked OU 55-19 in January 2005. Until yesterday, that loss in the BCS national title game was the most humiliating road loss.

But the 28-point beatdown the Red Raiders put on OU ranks right up there. Things got so bad that Tech players, coaches and fans joined in to taunt the Sooners by dancing a jig early in the fourth quarter when they were up 34-6.

The defense's uninspired performance left both the coaches and the players dazed and shaking their heads. Stoops said his team never quit, but acknowledged that it didn't show up to play a game that still had a lot of pride on the line.

In the locker room afterward, according to his players, Stoops shouldered much of the blame.

"He said we were outcoached and outplayed," said Broyles.

Perhaps this new spoiler approach against OSU will be the spark the beleaguered Sooners need. That, and they will be fighting to not become the first Stoops-coached team to lose six games.

"If you can't get fired up for Bedlam, regardless of what your record is," Lewis said, "then you shouldn't be playing football."

And also regardless of what role you're playing in Bedlam 2009.