Where do the Oklahoma Sooners land in latest bowl projections from USA TODAY Sports?

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The Oklahoma Sooners notched a big win last week, defeating the Tennessee Volunteers in Neyland Stadium at night by a score of 33-27. The six-point victory elevated OU to a 7-2 record overall and a 3-2 mark in the SEC, both improvements over last year. 

Oklahoma will now get to rest during their second and final bye week of the season, before a huge road date with the Alabama Crimson Tide in a couple of weeks. 

The Sooners’ win over the Vols helped out their College Football Playoff hopes, but there are still some who think OU will fall short of the CFP. That includes USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith, who has Oklahoma missing the playoff in his latest bowl projections. 

Smith instead thinks OU will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl, which will be held in Tampa, Florida on December 31st. The game was known as the Outback Bowl for decades, and it pits the SEC against the Big Ten. Michigan defeated Alabama in last year’s game.

At Raymond James Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Smith thinks Oklahoma’s opponent on New Year’s Eve will be the Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes. The two programs have met just twice all-time. 

In the first-ever meeting, the Barry-Switzer led Sooners beat the Hawkeyes 21-6 in Norman in 1979. The other meeting came in the 2011 Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. Bob Stoops and Oklahoma improved to 2-0 all-time over Iowa with a 31-14 victory. Blake Bell ran for 51 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries out of the “Belldozer” formation, while Landry Jones added a passing score to Trent Ratterree to help OU get the victory. 

While the ReliaQuest Bowl isn’t the top non-CFP bowl for the SEC (that’s the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl), it’s still a respected SEC postseason spot. It’s also a big upgrade for the Sooners, who faced the Navy Midshipmen in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl last season. 

Obviously, a trip to the playoff is what Sooner Nation is hoping for, but a high-level bowl is very much attainable after Oklahoma’s resurgent first nine games in 2025.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Where are the Sooners in new bowl picks from USA TODAY Sports?

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