Texas and Oklahoma will not be considered for selection by the Alamo Bowl after its appeal to keep the SEC-bound blue bloods as a part of its existing contract was denied, according to The Action Network. Beginning this season, Texas and Oklahoma will participate fully in SEC bowl selection.
The Alamo Bowl has two years on its contract to slot a Big 12 team against a Pac-12 team. The Action Network reported in February that Pac-12 teams will remain tied into the bowl contract instead of transitioning to the Big Ten’s bowl schedule since the former has no other means of fulfilling the bowl contract.
Unlike the Pac-12, the Big 12 has backfilled its departures with a number of new teams, jumping from 10 teams to 16 in just three years. The Big 12 will be able to easily fill an Alamo Bowl slot with its new membership, though four members — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah — are still beholden to a handful of bowl contracts. The Alamo Bowl historically gets the No. 1 pick of the non-New Year’s Six bowls for Big 12 and Pac-12 opponents.
While the Alamo Bowl is regarded as one of the more well-run bowls outside of the New Year’s Six, the bowl game drew ire from Texas fans. Between 2012 and 2022, the Longhorns played in the bowl five times in 11 years; they made a New Year’s Six bowl only once over that period. The Alamo Bowl, played in San Antonio, is only 80 miles from Austin, minimizing its attractiveness as a bowl tourism trip for UT fans.
In the 2023 Alamo Bowl, Arizona crushed Oklahoma 38-24 behind 152 yards and two touchdowns from wide receiver Jacob Cowing. The game marked a matchup between outgoing Big 12 member Oklahoma and incoming Big 12 member Arizona.
