Heading into the 2026 season, the Oklahoma Sooners wanted to improve upon their 2025 season. That meant returning to the College Football Playoff and winning at least one game there this time around. However, a disappointing start to the year means that the CFP could be out of reach for OU after just four games.

If OU doesn't improve significantly, it'll have to fight hard just to reach the six regular season wins needed to get into a bowl game. The last time Oklahoma missed a bowl game was in 1998, the final year of the John Blake era before Bob Stoops replaced him. However, many national pundits still believe that OU will be able to play in bowl season for the 28th straight year.

That includes Bryan Fischer at Sports Illustrated, who included Oklahoma in his latest bowl projections following Week 5 action.

In the SEC, the teams that qualify for the CFP are off the board for the remaining bowl selections. The Citrus Bowl gets to pick the top SEC team that does not qualify for the playoff.

After that, there's a pool of six bowls, with no pecking order, that will consult with the SEC and school personnel to determine where teams are scheduled. They'll try to create the best possible matchups. For 2026, those bowls (in no particular order) are the Gator Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the ReliaQuest Bowl, and the Texas Bowl.

After that, two more bowls, the Birmingham Bowl and the Gasparilla Bowl, will get to pick from any bowl-eligible SEC teams that do not yet have a landing spot.

Fischer has Oklahoma landing in the Texas Bowl this season, and that game will be played on New Year's Eve in Houston, Texas. The projected opponent for the Sooners is a fun one, as Fischer has OU matching up with Bedlam rival Oklahoma State out of the Big 12. Last year, Houston defeated LSU in the Texas Bowl.

Of course, this matchup would be one of the highlights of the non-CFP portion of the college football offseason, as the Sooners and Cowboys renewing their rivalry would be very highly anticipated. The two in-state foes have played a total of 118 times, but with Oklahoma moving to the SEC, Bedlam has not been played since 2023.

Oklahoma has dominated the rivalry, holding a 91-20-7 record all-time against Oklahoma State. Since 1999, the Sooners have gone 19-6 against the Cowboys. With no future games between the two schools on the schedule, the only opportunity for another Bedlam clash would have to come in the playoff or in a bowl game.

An appearance in the Texas Bowl is not what Oklahoma wanted coming into this season. However, there's still time for the Sooners to change that fate and improve in the SEC. If a spot in the Texas Bowl is ultimately what OU ends up with, at least they get to face off against their in-state rival to close out the year in what would be a very fascinating matchup.

Bedlam results since 1999

  • 1999: Oklahoma 44, Oklahoma State 7 (in Norman)
  • 2000: Oklahoma 12, Oklahoma State 7 (in Stillwater)
  • 2001: Oklahoma State 16, Oklahoma 13 (in Norman)
  • 2002: Oklahoma State 38, Oklahoma 28 (in Stillwater)
  • 2003: Oklahoma 52, Oklahoma State 9 (in Norman)
  • 2004: Oklahoma 38, Oklahoma State 35 (in Stillwater)
  • 2005: Oklahoma 42, Oklahoma State 14 (in Norman)
  • 2006: Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 21 (in Stillwater)
  • 2007: Oklahoma 49, Oklahoma State 17 (in Norman)
  • 2008: Oklahoma 61, Oklahoma State 41 (in Stillwater)
  • 2009: Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 0 (in Norman)
  • 2010: Oklahoma 47, Oklahoma State 41 (in Stillwater)
  • 2011: Oklahoma State 44, Oklahoma 10 (in Stillwater)
  • 2012: Oklahoma 51, Oklahoma State 48 (OT) (in Norman)
  • 2013: Oklahoma 33, Oklahoma State 24 (in Stillwater)
  • 2014: Oklahoma State 38, Oklahoma 35 (OT) (in Norman)
  • 2015: Oklahoma 58, Oklahoma State 23 (in Stillwater)
  • 2016: Oklahoma 38, Oklahoma State 20 (in Norman)
  • 2017: Oklahoma 62, Oklahoma State 52 (in Stillwater)
  • 2018: Oklahoma 48, Oklahoma State 47 (in Norman)
  • 2019: Oklahoma 34, Oklahoma State 16 (in Stillwater)
  • 2020: Oklahoma 41, Oklahoma State 13 (in Norman)
  • 2021: Oklahoma State 37, Oklahoma 33 (in Stillwater)
  • 2022: Oklahoma 28, Oklahoma State 13 (in Norman)
  • 2023: Oklahoma State 27, Oklahoma 24 (in Stillwater)

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: SI gives Oklahoma an interesting matchup in latest bowl projections

Source: Yahoo Sports