Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Texas has been widely projected to compete in this particular bowl game after suffering back-to-back conference losses to unranked teams.
Since 1989, the Cactus Bowl has been an annual college football bowl game that takes place in the state of Arizona. Continue reading “Cactus Bowl renamed, only Big Ten and Big 12 programs eligible”
A New Year’s Six bowl was the goal of head coach Tom Herman. According to USA TODAY Sports’ latest projections, UT will not accomplish it.
Coming off a bye week, Texas will host Baylor for matchup No. 108 between the two schools. The Longhorns are 2-2 this season, while the Bears have played only two games and are 1-1.
With back-to-back losses to TCU and Oklahoma, Texas’ potential bowl options have fallen below expectations. Going into the season, a Big 12 championship and New Year’s Six bowl at a minimum was the goal of head coach Tom Herman.
According to USA TODAY Sports’ latest projections, the Longhorns will be nowhere near accomplishing their goal.
For the second consecutive week, the Cactus Bowl against Northwestern is the projected site and opponent for Texas. In the history of the two programs, they have faced off once, with Dana Bible’s team losing in Evanston.
Related: USA TODAY Sports Bowl Projections: Texas Longhorns to face Northwestern in Cactus Bowl
The Wildcats will kick off their season on Saturday when they host Maryland. Northwestern is coming off a 3-9 season and will look for a bounce-back year in the Big Ten.
Despite not playing last week, Oklahoma State remains in the Cotton Bowl against Penn State. The Cowboys had their game against Baylor rescheduled due to COVID-19. It would be the first New Year’s Six bowl for Mike Gundy since the 2015 loss to Ole Miss.
Here are the rest of the projected conference bowl matchups:
If Texas wants to avoid the Cactus Bowl and move toward a better matchup, moving up the standings in the Big 12 is a must. As things stand, the Longhorns are below seven teams in the standings. Luckily, five of them remain on the schedule.
With readjusted expectations after the 2-2 start, even the Cactus Bowl would be deemed a failure for Herman. Working toward getting back into the Alamo Bowl would help the fourth-year head coach’s job status.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
In their latest bowl projections ESPN puts the Texas Longhorns and Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Cactus Bowl.
Each and every week the duo at ESPN of Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura release their updated bowl projections. This week’s edition has no Big 12 team making the cut for the College Football Playoffs. The usual suspects are at the top with Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State. The other team in the four-team playoff seems to fluctuate on a week to week basis.
Both Bonagura and Schlabach agree on the National Championship game featuring Alabama and Clemson. Currently they are the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. Here is how they believe the playoff breaks down.
| CFP Projections | Sugar Bowl | Rose Bowl | Title Game |
| Bonagura | Clemson vs Georgia | Alabama vs Ohio State | Clemson vs Alabama |
| Schlabach | Clemson vs Oregon | Alabama vs Ohio State | Clemson vs Alabama |
For the Longhorns, both have them in the Cactus Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona. They do not agree on who the Longhorns will match up with.
| Bonagura | Texas Longhorns | Purdue Boilermakers |
| Schlabach | Texas Longhorns | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
A matchup against Nebraska would mean these two teams would meet on the field for the first time since 2010. Texas owns the all-time series 10-4 and have won the last six games. These two teams met in the first ever Big 12 Championship game in 1996, the Longhorns upset the Cornhuskers. This would bring up plenty of memories given these two teams were in the same conference for 16 years before Nebraska left for the Big Ten Conference.
A matchup with Purdue would mean these two would meet for the third time in their history. The Longhorns have won both matchups in this series. However, they haven’t met on the field in 69 years.
| Bowl Game | Bonagura | Schlabach |
| Cotton Bowl | Oklahoma State vs BYU | Oklahoma State vs BYU |
| Alamo Bowl | Iowa State vs USC | Iowa State vs Washington |
| Cheez-It Bowl | Kansas State vs NC State | Kansas State vs Miami (Fl) |
| Texas Bowl | Oklahoma vs Ole Miss | Oklahoma vs Auburn |
| Liberty Bowl | West Virginia vs Missouri | West Virginia vs South Carolina |
| Armed Forces Bowl | Baylor vs UCF | Baylor vs SMU |
In the latest bowl projections by the USA TODAY, UT is off to play in the Cactus Bowl. Northwestern from the Big Ten would face UT in Tempe.
In the latest bowl projections by the USA TODAY, Texas is off to Tempe, Arizona to play in the Cactus Bowl. The Longhorns have never appeared in the bowl game despite the Big 12 being tied to it since 2006.
After being a Big 12 vs Pac-12 bowl game for five seasons, the Big Ten will now replace the west coast conference on a yearly basis. In the projections, the Northwestern Wildcats will be joining Texas in Arizona.
Northwestern has yet to kick off its season and will do so on Oct. 24 at home against Maryland. The Wildcats are looking to rebound from a 3-9 2019 that included a seven-game losing streak.
Historically, Texas and Northwestern have only met up one time and it was during World War II. In 1942 Dana Bible took the Longhorns up to Evanston and suffered a 3-0 loss. It was one of only two losses Bible’s squad suffered that season before capturing the Southwest Conference title.
Related: Latest ESPN bowl projections has Texas facing opponent for first time in 69 years
As for the rest of the Big 12, no conference member is projected to participate in the College Football Playoff. Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia are slated to be the four teams to fight for the national championship.
At the moment, Oklahoma State represents the conference in the New Year’s Six bowl games. The Cowboys are projected to play Penn State in the Cotton Bowl held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Mike Gundy’s squad is the only undefeated team left in the Big 12 and will face Texas on Halloween.
Here are the rest of the conference matchups:
Texas will need to beat teams such as Oklahoma State and West Virginia to compete for a higher bowl bid. While the College Football Playoff is out of the question, plenty of two-loss teams have played in a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
After the 2-2 start, ESPN has projected Texas in the Cactus Bowl. UT has never participated in the Arizona based postseason matchup.
Before the 2020 season began, Texas not only had aspirations of winning its first Big 12 championship since 2009 but making it to the College Football Playoff. An experienced quarterback and a head coach entering his fourth season running the program gave the Longhorns hope.
That has not gone to plan four games into the year as Texas has dropped its two last games against TCU and Oklahoma. The program has never been at a lower place under Tom Herman, having to climb up a steep hill just to stay alive in the Big 12.
After the catastrophic 2-2 start, ESPN has placed the Longhorns in the Cactus Bowl in their latest bowl projections. Previously named the Insight Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, and the Cheez-It Bowl, Texas has never participated in the Arizona based postseason matchup.
Facing Texas would be the Purdue Boilermakers out of the Big Ten conference. The two schools have faced off twice in their histories, dating back to 1950 and 1951. The Longhorns won the matchup in Austin 34-26 and then blanked the Boilermakers 14-0 in West Lafayette.
Purdue has yet to kick off their 2020 season. The Big Ten conference will begin to play on Oct. 24 after initially postponing its fall season. The Boilermakers will face Iowa at home at 3:30 pm CDT.
As for the rest of the Big 12, ESPN does not project a conference representative in the College Football Playoff. It has been since 2016 since the Big 12 (Oklahoma) has not made the playoff.
The Sooners’ in-state rival Oklahoma State is projected to represent the conference in the New Year’s Six. The Cowboys are slated to play in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against either BYU or USC.
Mike Gundy’s squad is the conference’s real last hope at the College Football Playoff. Currently sitting at 3-0, Oklahoma State still must play the Big 12’s premier opponents.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
