Texas A&M selected to play Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl
For the 43rd time in program history, the Maroon & White are going bowling.
The 17th edition of the TaxAct Texas Bowl will feature Texas A&M (7-5) of the Southeastern Conference and Oklahoma State (9-4) of the Big 12 on Wednesday, Dec. 27, at NRG Stadium in Houston, bowl officials announced Sunday afternoon.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and will be televised via ESPN.
Somewhat surprisingly, this will be A&M’s first bowl appearance since defeating North Carolina 41-27 in the 2021 Orange Bowl. They received a bid 11 months later to participate in the Gator Bowl vs. Wake Forest on New Year’s Eve but abruptly backed out days before due to a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak and injuries.
Overall, Texas A&M is 20-22 in bowl games and has become relatively familiar with the Texas Bowl. In 2016, the Aggies lost to Kansas State 33-28. In 2019, they narrowly survived a fourth-quarter rally by Oklahoma State 24-21. A&M also participated in the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, defeating Northwestern, 33-22.
From 2009-2021, A&M’s 13 consecutive bowl-eligible seasons marked a program record before a disappointing 5-7 showing in 2022 deemed them ineligible.
It was almost the same case this year.
Another low-performing campaign saw head coach Jimbo Fisher‘s dismissal following a 51-10 victory over Mississippi State at Kyle Field. Assistant head coach Elijah Robinson was then elevated to interim head coach and guided the Aggies to a win over Abilene Christian before ending the regular season with a 42-30 loss at then-No. 14 LSU.
Finishing 4-4 in conference play, the Aggies placed fourth in the SEC West and hired former defensive coordinator Mike Elko to lead the program back to title contention.
During Elko’s introductory press conference on Monday, Texas A&M Director of Athletics Ross Bjork said Robinson will coach the Aggies in the upcoming bowl game.
First meeting in 1914, A&M owns the all-time series against Oklahoma State 18-9. Under 19th-year head coach Mike Gundy, OSU fell to then-No. 7 Texas 49-21 in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium. The Pokes collected three top-25 wins this year, including a 40-34 double-overtime victory over BYU to close the regular season.
Before the 2019 Texas Bowl, the Aggies also defeated the Cowboys in the 1981 Independence Bowl.
Despite a season mired in uncertainty and frustration, Texas A&M will see a postseason end before the beginning of a new era.
Emilio Fantastico said:
Sweet! We get to play against air for defense.
Will that make us playoff worthy?
Let's try to top t.u.'s margin of victory against the Cowboys!
Also what did OkSt do to piss people off? Play for the conference championship, and then get slotted in this **** bowl game???
Boring opponent
Boring destination
Not paying a single cent to see watch us choke to a L10 team in freaking Houston
That's odd coming from you.Maroon Dawn said:
Boring game
Boring opponent
Boring destination
Not paying a single cent to see watch us choke to a L10 team in freaking Houston
Boys, if we lose Maroon Dawn, we have truly lost the fan base. He is the most Red Assed gung ho MF'er to ever put britches on. He literally bleeds maroon from dusk til dawn and all hours in between as his name implies. His positive attitude has buoyed the spirit of TexAgs posters for years.
TexasLeaguer said:
This feels full circle for Anias!
I don't.think he will bother to play in this one
zafzo said:
Stop Ollie Gordon and you stop Okie State. Should be an easy win except... Coaches?
Players too. Gonna need players.
After Texas, No. 12 10-2 Oklahoma was the highest ranked remaining Big 12 team, and they will be playing No. 14 9-3 Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. But No. 25 8-4 Kansas State got selected over No. 20 9-4 Oklahoma State for the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida. It would have made more sense for Oklahoma State to play in the Pop-Tarts bowl and Kansas State or Iowa State to play in the Texas Bowl.
But I don't think that Hubba Bubba kid still plays for them.Dr RC said:
This is the most boring possible matchup we could have drawn. We played OSU so recently in the Texas Bowl that Anias Smith actually played in it and had 106 all purpose yards; 7 carries for 54 yards, 2 catches for 13, 3 kick returns for 36 yards, and 1 punt return for 3 yard
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough