Oklahoma football: Sooners anchor Big 12 postseason assault
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football is practically synonymous with postseason bowl games, at least that’s been the case over the past two decades.
The Sooners are making their 51st postseason bowl appearance all-time and 19th in a row when they go up against SEC champion Georgia in a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup on New Year’s Day.
As impressive as Oklahoma’s won-lost record has been over the last 19 seasons (202-46, .815), the Sooners are just .500 in bowl games, going nine up and nine down. That includes a BCS National Championship, however, appearances in three other BCS National Championships, a College Football Playoff appearance and eight New Year’s Six bowl games over that time.
The Texas Longhorns own the best bowl record in the Big 12 era (1996-present) based on wins. The Longhorns are 10-7 (.588) as members of the Big 12. Surprisingly, Kansas has the best bowl winning percentage in the conference, coming up winners in three of their four bowl appearances. Ironically, all four of KU’s bowl appearances under the Big 12 banner (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008) were with former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mark Mangino as head coach.
Eight of the Big 12 Conference’s 10 member schools are playing in bowl games this season, led by Oklahoma making its second appearance in the College Playoff in three seasons. Kansas and Baylor were the only two Big 12 teams that were not bowl eligible in 2017.
Eight is the most the Big 12 has sent to bowl games since the 2012 season, when only Kansas was left home in the postseason. Nine Big 12 schools went bowling that season, the most in league history.
The record of the Big 12 in bowl games over the past 10 years has been similarly modest to that of Oklahoma. The Sooners are 5-5 in their last 10 bowl appearances (2007-16). Over that same span, Big 12 bowl teams are 38-36.
Here is the complete 2017 Big 12 bowl lineup, in chronological order:
Birmingham Bowl – Texas Tech vs. University of South Florida, Saturday, Dec. 23, Birmingham, Alabama
Heart of Dallas Bowl – West Virginia vs. Utah, Tuesday, Dec. 26, Dallas, Texas
Cactus Bowl – Kansas State vs. UCLA, Tuesday, Dec. 26, Dallas, Texas
Texas Bowl – Texas vs, Missouri, Wednesday, Dec. 27, Houston, Texas
Camping World Bowl – No. 19 Oklahoma State vs. No. 22 Virginia Tech, Thursday, Dec. 28, Orlando, Florida
Alamo Bowl – No. 15 TCU vs. No. 13 Stanford, Thursday, Dec. 28, San Antonio, Texas
Liberty Bowl – Iowa State vs. No. 20 Memphis, Saturday, Dec. 30, Memphis, Tennessee
College Football Playoff/Rose Bowl – No, 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia, Monday, Jan. 1, Pasadena, California