Arizona Wildcats to face Oklahoma Sooners in Alamo Bowl

In Arizona's first bowl game in six years, the 14th-ranked Wildcats will face No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 in San Antonio.

It's the fifth Top 15 matchup all time for the Alamo Bowl in the College Football Playoff era. The Wildcats and Sooners are the highest-ranked matchup in the postseason outside of the College Football Playoff and New Year's Six bowl games.

Arizona, which is leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big 12 in 2024, will face an Oklahoma team splintering from the Big 12 and becoming an SEC member. The Wildcats are one of eight Pac-12 teams to qualify for a bowl game this season.  

Alamo Bowl chairman Randy Smith said on Sunday, "We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to select two excellent programs for the Valero Alamo Bowl this year." 

Moments after Arizona held its annual team banquet, UA third-year head coach Jedd Fisch said, "I couldn't have been happier to share with our team the opportunity to play in this game," in the Alamo Bowl announcement video call. 

Arizona (9-3), which will be the visiting team in the Alamo Bowl, ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak and third in the Pac-12 standings after entering the season eighth in the preseason conference media poll. 

"We've had quite a season around here and the last six games have certainly been a highlight of what has been a fantastic 12-game season," Fisch said. "We couldn't be more thrilled to take on Coach (Brent) Venables' team. We have all the respect in the world for Oklahoma and all the things Oklahoma stands for in the national landscape. ... What a special opportunity for all of us, and we're just thrilled to be there and we can't wait to get out to San Antonio."

Fisch said Arizona's sophomores, redshirt freshmen and transfer portal players from 2022 are "really the group that spearheaded the change in our program." Arizona's top passer (Noah Fifita), rusher (Jonah Coleman), receiving yards leader (Tetairoa McMillan), receptions leader (Jacob Cowing) and tackler (Jacob Manu) are all from the Wildcats' ’22 recruiting class.

Fisch also credited Arizona's success this season to its defense under second-year defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, evolving from the sixth-worst unit in college football to No. 37. Arizona surrendered 467.7 yards per game last season; this year, the Wildcats are allowing 341.3 per game. 

"Offensively, we've been a good team the last couple of years. Defensively, we made an enormous jump," Fisch said. "Super proud of the way our defense has played and I think the growth of our team, to go from 1-11 to 5-7 to 9-3, really has to do with the way our defense has changed over these three years. ... Our three losses are by a combined 16 points, so we've been in position every week to win the game, and really that's because of our defense."

Venables, now in his second season at the helm, lauded Fisch for the "amazing turnaround" at Arizona. 

"The turnaround has been quite remarkable," he said. "They're doing it the right way and they've been recruiting very well and developed incredibly well. ... Just a fantastic job building the program the right way."

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Oklahoma (10-2) has the fifth-best offense nationally, averaging 502.4 yards per game. Sooners redshirt senior quarterback and former UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel is sixth in college football with 3,660 yards to go along with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Gabriel's 14,865 career yards ranks eighth all-time by college quarterbacks behind Case Keenum, Timmy Chang, Landry Jones, Graham Harrell, Sam Hartman, Ty Detmer and Bo Nix. Gabriel's 42 all-purpose touchdowns this season leads the Big 12.  

"We recognize it's going to be quite a football game. I'm excited about the way both teams score and also the way the teams defend," Fisch said. "It's going to be a fun game, a great game, and I hope all of San Antonio comes out to watch it." 

It's the second time the Wildcats will play in the Alamo Bowl. Arizona previously played in the Pac-12-versus-Big 12 bowl game in San Antonio in 2010 and lost to Oklahoma State 36-10, the last postseason game under then-head coach and former OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, who was fired halfway into the following season. Current Oklahoma assistants Seth Littrell (offensive coordinator) and Bill Bedenbaugh (offensive line) were co-offensive coordinators for the Wildcats in 2010. Littrell, who coached running backs and tight ends at Arizona, was recently promoted from offensive analyst to co-offensive coordinator with Joe Jon Finley, after offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby became the head coach of Mississippi State. 

This year will mark the third time Arizona will face Oklahoma in the all-time head-to-head series. Arizona is 1-1 against the Sooners, with the Wildcats winning the previous matchup 6-3 in 1989 courtesy of a game-winning 40-yard field goal from Doug Pfaff in Tucson. UA lost 28-10 the previous season in Norman.

The 2023 Alamo Bowl is the 10th matchup between Pac-12 and Big 12 schools in the bowl game's 31-year history. The bowl game features top Pac-12 and Big 12 schools that aren't competing in the College Football Playoff or a New Year's Six bowl. 

The Alamo Bowl will kick off at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN. The Wildcats are expected to travel to San Antonio on Dec. 23.

"We're going to try and make it an incredible experience. ... We understand the importance of winning, but also the importance of the experience," Fisch said. "From what I've been told, this is the best bowl in terms of experience.

"To celebrate Christmas (in San Antonio), our kids are so excited for that and we're so excited as a staff." 

Extra points 

• The payout for the Alamo Bowl is $9.6 million combined for both teams, which will be divided amongst members of the Pac-12 and Big 12. 
• Arizona fans wanting to attend the Alamo Bowl can purchase tickets starting on Monday. Per Arizona Athletics, upper-level tickets at the Alamodome are $84. Club-level and lower-level tickets are $142 each.
• The Wildcats moved up one spot to No. 14 in the final College Football Playoff Rankings. Arizona is also No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll.