Bowl destinations announced for Oklahoma teams
BY ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
Monday, December 03, 2012
12/03/12 at 10:08 AM
Oklahoma was serenaded by chants of "B-C-S" by its faithful fans following Saturday's 24-17 victory at TCU.
But one day later, OU's hope to play in a BCS bowl was extinguished by Northern Illinois, a school in DeKalb, Ill., that plays in a much smaller league (Mid-American Conference) than the Big 12 Conference.
Oklahoma's college football teams learned their bowl destinations Sunday night.
The Sooners will face Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. The Jan. 4 game will start at 7 p.m. in Arlington, Texas.
Oklahoma State will take on Purdue in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Jan. 1 in Dallas. That contest starts at 11 a.m.
Conference USA champion Tulsa will meet Iowa State in the Dec. 31 Liberty Bowl. The 2:30 p.m. game is played in Memphis.
Oklahoma seemed destined for a BCS bowl. It appeared the co-Big 12 champions with Kansas State were being targeted for the Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl by mid-afternoon Saturday.
OU slid out of BCS bowl contention when Northern Illinois finished among the top 16 schools of the BCS rankings. The BCS rules allow non-automatic qualifying leagues (like the MAC) to send its champion when a member meets the first criteria and ends above a BCS conference champion.
Northern Illinois was No. 15 in the final BCS rankings and ended ahead of Big East champion Louisville and Big Ten champion Wisconsin.
Oklahoma will play in the Cotton Bowl for the first time since a 10-3 win over Arkansas following the 2001 season.
The game is played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, where OU senior quarterback Landry Jones made his college debut, taking over for an injured Sam Bradford in a 2009 game against BYU.
OSU will face Purdue for the first time since a 33-20 loss to the Boilermakers in the 1997 Alamo Bowl.
The Cowboys (7-5) have struggled down the stretch, losing three of five games heading into the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which is played at the Cotton Bowl stadium.
Tulsa (10-3) will get another shot at Iowa State, which handed the Hurricane one of three losses this season. The Cyclones (6-6) defeated Tulsa 38-23 in the season opener for both on Sept. 1.
The Hurricane - playing a second opponent for a second time this season - captured a rematch victory over UCF in Saturday's Conference USA championship game to earn the Liberty Bowl bid.
Tulsa last played at the Liberty Bowl in 2005, when it followed a C-USA championship season by defeating Fresno State 31-24.
Original Print Headline: Bowls for Oklahoma teams are announced
Eric Bailey 918-581-8391
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
OSU's QB Clint Chelf runs from OU defenders in Norman on Nov. 24. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
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