History lesson on the Armed Forces Bowl

Unlike all those years as members of the Big 12, the Oklahoma football team will make just its second trip south of the Red River into the state of Texas this season when the Sooners appear in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 27 in Fort Worth against Navy.

As a member of the Big 12, and even before that, the Sooners always have had the trip to Dallas for the annual rivalry game with Texas and would make at least a couple, and sometimes more, trips every season south of the Red River during football season. And while this is not Oklahoma's first time to play at Amon G. Carter Stadium, it is OU's first time to play in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The Armed Forces Bowl, which started out as the Fort Worth Bowl, has been part of the college football postseason bowl lineup since 2003.

From the beginning, except for 2010 and 2011, the game has been played at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU. The game was moved to Dallas and Gerald P. Ford Stadium at SMU while the stadium at TCU underwent reconstruction in 2010 and 2011.

The inaugural Armed Forces Bowl game in 2003 featured No. 18 Boise State against No. 19 TCU. That contest was won by Boise State 34-31. The 2003 game was the only time that TCU has appeared in the game.

Despite its name, the Armed Forces Bowl has not always included a team from one of the military academies. In fact, in the 22-year history of the Armed Forces Bowl, including this season, the game has featured a team representing the armed services just 14 times. Of the teams from one of the military academies, Air Force has the most appearances (7). Army has played in the game four times, and this year will be the Naval Academy's third appearance.

Army owns the best record of the three military schools in the Armed Forces Bowl, undefeated in four games. Air Force is 3-4 and Navy has split its two appearances. A tem from one of the military academies has participated in eight of the last 10 Armed Forces Bowls.

Other than Air Force, Houston has also appeared in the game five times, the second most of any school.

The Armed Forces Bowl has had several title sponsors in its 22-year history. Lockheed Martin has sponsored the game since 2014.

The bowl has had agreements with multiple conferences in recent years, including the Big Ten (2015, 2017, 2019), the Big 12 (2014, 2016, 2018), American Conference (2014 , 2018) and Mountain West.

Oklahoma will be the third SEC team to ever appear in the Armed Forces Bowl. Mississippi State defeated Tulsa 28-26 in 2020, and Missouri lost to Army 24-22 one year later.

The SEC currently has agreements with nine postseason bowls in place, but that does not include the Armed Forces Bowl.