Sooners Head To Cotton Bowl To Take On Texas A&M

The University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M University have both accepted invitations to play in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. CT at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. FOX will televise the contest to a national audience.

The Sooners will make their 46th bowl appearance, earning their 14th straight bowl bid under head coach Bob Stoops, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.

No. 12 Oklahoma (10-2, 8-1) claimed a share of the Big 12 Conference championship, registering its eighth Big 12 title under Stoops. The Sooners' two losses on the season came at the hands of teams with a combined 23-1 record – AP No. 1 Notre Dame (12-0) and AP No. 7 Kansas State (11-1).

The Sooners appeared to be heading to the Sugar Bowl after Saturday's win over TCU, but MAC champion Northern Illinois finished 15th in the final BCS standings, automatically qualifying the Huskies for the final at-large spot in the BCS.

No. 10 Texas A&M (10-2, 6-2 SEC) tied for second with LSU in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference standings. The Aggies' two losses came by a combined eight points against conference foes with a combined 21-3 record. Texas A&M suffered a 20-17 setback vs. Florida on Sept. 8 and a 24-19 loss vs. LSU on Oct. 20.

"Our players are enthusiastic about winning another Big 12 Championship look forward to competing against Texas A&M in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic," said Stoops. "The Cotton Bowl has long been a marquee postseason destination, and we're excited about being selected to play there a second time. Cowboys Stadium is a great venue, and I know Sooner fans will be excited to make the trip to support us."

The Aggies are led by head coach Kevin Sumlin who spent five seasons at Oklahoma serving as an assistant under Stoops, serving as both the co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach (2006-07) and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach (2003-05) for the Sooners.