OU to face Arizona in the Alamo Bowl
OU is headed to San Antonio to play No. 14 Arizona in the Alamo Bowl, according to Brett McMurphy. Kickoff is set for Dec. 28 at 8:15 p.m. CT on ESPN.
The Sooners finished No. 12 in the final College Football Playoff poll. Entering the weekend, OU needed to move up to make a New Year’s Six bowl. And it got some help on Championship Saturday with Texas beating Oklahoma State and, maybe more importantly, SMU beating Tulane in the AAC Championship. That gave OU two ranked wins instead of one, giving them an edge over Ole Miss and Penn State.
Many believed the Sooners had a better resume than Missouri, Ole Miss and Penn State. OU had more ranked wins than all three schools and had the best win of the group, beating No. 3 Texas. But in the end, their losses kept them out of the New Year’s Six.
OU has faced Arizona only twice in program history. The Sooners won in 1988 and lost in 1989. This is the second time in three years Oklahoma is headed to the Alamo Bowl, having last played there in 2021, beating Oregon.
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OU has had a successful season, though disappointing at times. After beating the Longhorns in Dallas, the Sooners had a path to the Big 12 title and the playoff. But losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State on the road derailed their season.
Still, OU will be headed to the second-best bowl game for the Big 12.
“We’ll get what we’ve earned and what’s done is done,” coach Brent Venables said after the season finale. “We’ve learned from it. And I’ll use this moment — this season and those moments — to teach. We already have. To teach and learn. This is what the game punishes you for and this is what the game honors you for. All of us — we’ll all learn through that.
“I don’t look back. I’m still mad about what happened. So whether that was disappointed or mad about what happened several weeks ago. I don’t sit here and throw it in the player’s face right now. We did that already…and the coach’s face. Learn from it. Get better from it. Moved on and don’t let that beat us again or define us. It’s a chapter in a book. You got a whole book. That’s one. And it’s an important one. I believe in god’s will and I believe in eyes forward.”
