NORMAN — Oklahoma will make its 56th bowl appearance — and school-record 24th in a row — when it faces Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 29 in Orlando, Fla.
The Cheez-It Bowl, to be played at Camping World Stadium, is scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPN. The game debuted in 1990 as the Blockbuster Bowl and has also held the titles of Carquest, MicronPC, MicronPC.com, Tangerine, Champs Sports, Russell Athletic and Camping World bowls.
OU’s only other appearance in the game came in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, a 40-6 loss to Clemson. Florida State is making its fourth appearance in the bowl, winning in 1990 (24-17 over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl), 2008 (42-13 over Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl) and 2011 (18-14 over Notre Dame in the Champs Sports Bowl).
The Sooners, who are under the direction of first-year head coach Brent Venables, own a 6-6 overall record and posted a 3-6 mark in the Big 12. Its last three losses came by three points each. Florida State, which finished second in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, is 9-3 under third-year head coach Mike Norvell and is No. 13 in the CFP rankings and AP and AFCA Coaches polls. OU ranks 18th nationally in total offense (472.2 ypg) and 37th in scoring offense (32.9 ppg), while Florida State ranks 14th (475.7 ypg) and 18th (36.2 ppg).
Oklahoma and Florida State have met seven times. The Sooners lead the series 6-1 and have won each of the last six meetings. OU is 3-1 in bowls against the Seminoles, winning Orange Bowls in the 1979 (24-9), 1980 (18-17) and 2000 (13-2) seasons, and losing in the Gator Bowl in the 1964 campaign (36-19). The Orange Bowl victory in the 2000 season resulted in a 13-0 record under head coach Bob Stoops and OU’s seventh national championship.
The teams last met in 2011 in Tallahassee when the top-ranked Sooners posted a 23-13 win over No. 5 FSU. OU also won 47-17 in 2010 and 24-9 in 1976, both in Norman.
OU is making its 56th bowl appearance, fourth most nationally, and owns a 31-23-1 all-time bowl record. Thirty-nine of those 56 have come in bowls that comprise the current New Year’s Six (Orange [20], Sugar [8], Fiesta [5], Cotton [3], Rose [2] and Peach [1]). The 39 does not include OU’s BCS National Championship appearance against Florida in the 2008 season.
The Sooners are making their 24th straight bowl appearance. It is by far the longest streak in school history (the previous record was eight in a row from the 1975-82 seasons under Barry Switzer), the longest ever by a current Big 12 program and the second-longest active streak nationally behind Georgia’s 26.
COURTESY OKLAHOMA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
