Oklahoma and Arizona are going to meet in a Top 15 matchup at the Alamo Bowl on Thursday night. The Sooners will be making their 57th overall bowl appearance, which places them fourth most nationally. OU is making its 25th consecutive bowl appearance, smashing the longest streak in school history, which was 8 straight under Barry Switzer from 1975-1982. Oklahoma’s streak is the second-longest active streak in the nation (Georgia; 27) and the longest ever by a current Big 12 program.
Oklahoma owns a 31-24-1 (.573) bowl record. Their 31 bowl wins are tied for the fourth most nationally, but this one is big for another reason. A win on Thursday night would result in Oklahoma’s 11th victory of the season. The Sooners entered the year ranked first nationally with 27 all-time campaigns of at least 11 wins (one ahead of Alabama, which is 12-1 this season). An Alamo Bowl win keeps the Sooners ahead of the Tide as the two are set to become conference foes in 2024. OU’s 42 seasons of at least 10 wins are just one behind Alabama for the all-time lead, so OU can’t give ground on the 11-win seasons.
Additionally, the Sooners’ 19 campaigns of 10 or more victories since the start of the 2000 season are tied with Ohio State for the most in the country.
More Game Notes
- Entering bowl season, Oklahoma is the only team in the country to score 59-plus points in at least four games this season (73 vs. Arkansas State, 66 at Tulsa, 59 vs. West Virginia and 69 vs. TCU). OU is also the only team to score at least 50 points in five games (the Sooners also scored 50 vs. Iowa State).
- The Alamo Bowl will mark OU’s last football contest as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
- Oklahoma owns a 68-32-3 (.676) record against programs that are current members of the Pac-12 Conference. That includes a 4-3 bowl game record.
- This will be the first time that Oklahoma and Arizona have met in a bowl game.
- The last time the Sooner and the Wildcats faced each other was in 1989 when Arizona used a game-winning 40-yard field goal by kicker Doug Pfaff to come away with a 6-3 win.
- The Wildcats finished 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Pac-12 for third in the conference behind Washington (13-0, 9-0) and Oregon (11-2, 8-1).
- Arizona won six straight games to end the regular season, becoming the longest winning streak since 1998.
- The Wildcats last appeared in a bowl game when they participated in the Foster Farms Bowl against Purdue on Dec. 27, 2017
- Arizona’s last win in a bowl game came on Dec. 19, 2015, against New Mexico (W, 45-37) in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.
- Thursday marks the second appearance in the Valero Alamo Bowl in program history. First (Dec. 29, 2010 vs. Oklahoma State).
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