OSU looks like Cotton Bowl at worst; OU looks like Sun Bowl at best
The Big 12′s bowl lineup still is two weeks shy of being set, but we know a lot more now after Week 12. Best guess: Oklahoma State can do no worse than the Cotton Bowl, and Oklahoma can do no better than the Sun Bowl. Here’s why:
If OSU wins Bedlam, most agree the Fiesta Bowl will select the Cowboys, who figure to be ranked about 11th in the BCS come Sunday afternoon. It’s possible OSU could get bypassed for Boise State but not likely. Two other scenarios that could knock OSU, even at 10-2, out of the Fiesta. If Texas A&M upsets Texas on Thanksgiving night, the Longhorns probably would miss the national title game and instead would go to the Fiesta itself, provided it beats Nebraska in the Big 12 title game. Or if the Huskers upset Texas in that title game, Nebraska would go to the Fiesta Bowl.
Should the Cowboys get bypassed, or should they lose to OU, the Cotton Bowl almost surely will call. Nebraska is the other chief Cotton contender. The Huskers are 8-3 and Saturday night cinched a berth in the Big 12 title game. But if Nebraska loses to Texas in Arlington, the Huskers would be 9-4, a slightly worse record than OSU’s 9-3 or 10-2, plus the Huskers and their legions of fans will have just been to a Dallas trip (the Big 12 title game).
On top of that, Ole Miss’ victory over LSU on Saturday probably puts LSU in the Cotton Bowl. An OSU-LSU game, Mike Gundy vs. Les Miles, is too rich to pass up. So it looks like the Fiesta or the Cotton for OSU.
Meanwhile, OU’s 41-13 loss to Texas Tech means the Sooners likely will fall below the Alamo Bowl, even with a Bedlam victory. Tech can finish 8-4 with a victory over Baylor next weekend in Arlington, and the Alamo Bowl likely would take the Red Raiders over a 7-5 Oklahoma team.
If Nebraska wins the Big 12, that could lift the Sooners back into Alamo contention, but no other path seems to available for OU to make it to San Antonio.
That means the Sun Bowl or Insight Bowl is the likely spot for OU. If the Sooners win Bedlam, the Sun Bowl would have a pick between 7-5 Oklahoma or Missouri, which is 7-4 going into a game against Kansas this Saturday. If the Sooners lose Bedlam, the Sun probably would jump on Mizzou, leaving the Insight to take OU.
The Insight is doomed to get a mediocre Big Ten team, with little name recognition. Michigan State or Minnesota. The Insight will need a big name from the Big 12, even a 6-6 OU.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Since OSU has a winning record, I’m expecting the Sooners to come out flat, struggle on both sides of the ball, rack up a lot of senseless penalties, make no adjustments at halftime, kick a couple of field goals and call it a day. The fact that we’re hoping for a Sun Bowl berth is embarrassing enough without mentioning the fact that in the last five or six bowl games we’ve played like we’d rather be doing something else. Let’s just pack it in, like the players and coaches have already done and start looking forward to next year. After all, there’s nowhere to go but up.
“After all, there’s nowhere to go but up.”
Not so fast. How easily sooner fans forget pre-stoops. If you lose Stoops to ND, this generation of sooner fans might kill themselves thinking about praying for a Sun Bowl…
[...] what’s this? Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman says Oklahoma State will go to the Fiesta Bowl if it knocks off Oklahoma in their Bedlam Game at Norman this Saturday. Tramel [...]