By the end of the day on Sunday the Sooners will know for sure where their bowl destination is. However, based on the results of the conference championship games we can speculate, with some confidence, that Oklahoma will be heading to either Orlando, Florida for the Cheez-It Bowl or San Antonio, Texas for the Alamo Bowl.
Baylor’s upset of Oklahoma State, in Arlington, eliminated the Big 12 from the College Football Playoff and locked the Bears in for New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl. It also could send the Cowboys to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl which would place the Sooners in the conference’s third-place tie-in which is the Cheez-It Bowl.
Figuring out Oklahoma’s opponent in the Cheez-It Bowl is going to be a bit more difficult because of the way the ACC does its selections. For example, you pretty much know that Oregon will be the Big 12’s opponent in the Alamo Bowl because that game pits the Big 12’s #2 team against the Pac-12’s #2 team. That’s not the case for the Cheez-It Bowl as any number of ACC teams could be selected, as well as possibly Notre Dame. The Irish are most likely heading to a New Year’s Six bowl after barely missing out on the College Football Playoff, which we’ll talk about again here in a minute.
One interesting twist here is that if the Sooners do go to Orlando they could end up playing Clemson. In that case it could be dubbed the Venables Bowl as Tiger defensive coordinator Brent Venables is likely to become Oklahoma’s next football coach.
The last time Oklahoma played in this bowl it was named the Russell Athletic Bowl. That was following the 2014 season and the Sooners were thumped 40-6 by then #18 Clemson.
The Alamo Bowl Isn’t Out Of The Picture
There’s still a chance that Oklahoma could end up in San Antonio though. Should Oklahoma State be selected for a New Year’s Six bowl then that would slide the Sooners up in the order. In that scenario OU would take the #2 spot at the Alamo Bowl and Iowa State would then head to Orlando in the #3 spot. The Fiesta Bowl is most likely the key to this playing out. They could end up picking both OSU and Notre Dame to play each other and that would send the rest of the selection process down a different path.
The Sooners would be an attractive selection by the Alamo Bowl because they have never played in that game before. Six current members of the Big 12 have gone bowling in San Antonio but Oklahoma is not one of them. Oregon is the likely opponent for whichever Big 12 team ends up heading to the Alamo Bowl.
Both bowl games will be played on December 29th.
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