STILLWATER — Oklahoma got an early Christmas gift when the door to the Big 12 championship game was unlocked Friday. Texas A&M’s upset victory over Texas put the conference’s South Division up for grabs.

It didn’t remain in limbo very long.

The 13th-ranked Sooners held off a second-half charge from Oklahoma State to claim the 101st edition of Bedlam, 27-21, and secure a berth in next Saturday’s Big 12 championship game.

“We have fought all year,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “Now we have an opportunity to go.”

The fight lasted until the final second at Boone Pickens Stadium.

OSU had the ball at the Sooner 25 for the game’s final play. But Zac Robinson’s pass was tipped by OU cornerback Lendy Holmes and D’Juan Woods couldn’t haul in the ball.

“Tight game like that you have to make a play,” Holmes said.

The Sooners made them to improve to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big 12. The victory was their seventh straight and once again came thanks to strong defense and another gritty afternoon on the ground.

It was the same pattern the Sooners have followed through most of their seven-game winning streak. They have run the ball with stubborn determination and defended in the same manner.

It was enough to turn back the Cowboys in the third straight Bedlam meeting in Stillwater settled by 10 points or less.

The Cowboys, who finished the regular season 6-6 and 3-5, cut the gap to 27-21 when Woods caught a 2-yard, fourth-down pass from Bobby Reid.

The touchdown made for frantic final minutes.

“That was about as fun a game as I have ever been involved in as a player or coach,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said.

Momentum swung back and forth all afternoon.

OU, which led by 13 early in the fourth quarter, tried to run the clock out the entire second half. By the fourth quarter, the Sooners had ground to a halt.