The Oklahoma Sooners survived a battle against the Houston Cougars on Saturday night, winning by a score of 16-12. OU has to get a whole lot better very quickly, especially on the offensive side of the ball if they want to have a successful season in 2024.
[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and the Sooners will now turn their attention to the Tulane Green Wave, as OU will be at home once again in week three. With football season fully in swing, ESPN released their latest bowl projections (ESPN+).
After the disappointing win, Oklahoma was not placed in very noteworthy bowls by ESPN staff writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach, who wrote the article. However, both had the Sooners facing old conference foes come bowl season.
Schlabach had Oklahoma facing the rival Nebraska Cornhuskers in the ReliaQuest Bowl, which will be played on New Years’ Eve at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Formerly known as the Outback Bowl, it pits the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] against the [autotag]Big Ten[/autotag], and has traditionally been played on New Years’ Day.
Of course, the Sooners and the Cornhuskers go all the way back to the days of the Big Eight and the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag], one of the fiercest rivalries in college football that was lost to conference realignment.
OU has won the last three games in this rivalry; the Big 12 Championship Game in 2010, a home game in 2021 and a road contest in 2022. The programs also have another non-conference home-and-home scheduled for 2029 in Norman and 2030 in Lincoln.
Bonagura, on the other hand, sees Oklahoma taking on former Big 12 opponent Iowa State in the TaxAct Texas Bowl, also played on New Years’ Eve. The game takes place at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas and matches up the SEC and the Big 12.
The Sooners are riding a four-game winning streak against the Cyclones, going all the way back to the 2020 Big 12 Championship Game. OU won regular season contests at home in 2021 and 2023, with a road victory in 2022 sandwiched in between. ISU has just seven wins all-time against Oklahoma’s 80 in the series. Unless they meet in the postseason, this will be the first year since 2009 that the teams have not played each other.
For now though, Oklahoma will need to play its best game if they want to defeat Tulane this week. The Green Wave nearly beat Kansas State a week ago, and have been one of the best Group of Five programs in college football over the past couple of seasons. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. in Norman, and the game will broadcast on ESPN.
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