Bowl Season: Which college teams will play their bowl games in the state of Texas?

College football bowl season is almost upon us and while TCU won’t play postseason football this season, there are teams from Texas that will play bowl games.

Including the national championship game on Jan. 8 in Houston, there are eight bowl games in Texas. The first is the Frisco Bowl, scheduled Dec. 19.

Of the 12 Texas teams in the Bowl Championship Series, seven were invited to play a bowl game. Of those seven, four (UT-San Antonio, Texas State, Rice and Texas A&M) will play their games in the Lone Star state. The remaining three (Texas Tech, Texas and SMU) must leave Texas to play their bowl games, most notably with Texas playing Washington in the CFP semifinal.

The other five teams (TCU, Houston, North Texas, UTEP and Baylor) were not invited to a bowl game.

Cotton Bowl

No. 9 MISSOURI (10-2) vs. No. 7 OHIO STATE (11-1)

Dec. 29, 7 p.m., ESPN

Location: Arlington

Player to know: Missouri: Doak Walker Award finalist Cody Schrader, 1,489 yards, 13 touchdowns; Ohio State: Heisman finalist Marvin Harrison Jr., 67 receptions, 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns

It’s a fact: Missouri: The Tigers won 10 games for the first time since the 2014 season and finished in second place in the SEC East. The Tigers also secured their first winning season since 2018.

Ohio State: Since 2012 the Buckeyes have won 11 games in every single season except the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Ohio State will be without starting quarterback Kyle McCord who entered the transfer portal.

Last time: Ohio State 35, Missouri 14 (Sept. 19, 1998)

Bowl history: Ohio State: Third appearance in the Cotton Bowl, 56th bowl game in school history; Missouri: Fourth Cotton Bowl appearance, 36th bowl game in school history.

Frisco Bowl

UTSA (8-4) vs. MARSHALL (6-6)

Dec. 19, 8 p.m., ESPN

Location: Frisco

Player to know: UTSA: Joshua Cephus, 82 receptions, 1,049 yards, nine touchdowns; Marshall: Rasheen Ali, 1,043 yards, 13 touchdowns

It’s a fact: UTSA: The Roadrunners completed their first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference after leaving Conference USA. UTSA went 7-1 in the AAC with their lone in-conference loss coming to Tulane.

Marshall: In its second season in the Sun Belt Conference, the Thundering Herd couldn’t capitalize on a 4-0 start finishing the season 2-6 in their final eight games.

Last time:: Marshall 23, UTSA 0 (Nov. 17, 2018)

Bowl history: UTSA: Second time in the Frisco Bowl, fifth bowl game in school history; Marshall: First appearance in the Frisco Bowl, 20th bowl game in school history.

Armed Forces Bowl

No. 24 JAMES MADISON (11-1) vs. AIR FORCE (8-4)

Dec. 23, 2:30 p.m., ABC

Location: Fort Worth

Player to know: James Madison: Sunbelt Player of the Year Jordan McCloud, 3,400 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 311 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns; Air Force: All-Mountain West first-team PJ Ramsey, 7.5 sacks, 35 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss

It’s a fact: James Madison: The Dukes are in their second season in the FBS after leaving the FCS. The team was ineligible for postseason play due to the transfer, but was rewarded a bowl game because of an insufficient amount of bowl-qualifying teams.

Air Force: The Falcons hope to snap a four-game losing streak and win their second Armed Forces Bowl in a row.

Last time: This will be the first-ever matchup between JMU and Air Force

Bowl history: James Madison: This will be the first bowl game in school history; Air Force: Seventh appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl, 30th bowl game in school history.

First Responder Bowl

RICE (6-6) vs. TEXAS STATE (7-5)

Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

Location: Dallas

Player to know: Rice: First-team All-AAC Luke McCaffrey, 68 receptions, 963 yards, 12 touchdowns; Texas State: Ismail Mahdi, 1,209 yards, 10 touchdowns

It’s a fact: Rice: The Owls completed their first regular season in the AAC after transitioning from Conference USA going 4-4 in-conference.

Texas State: First-year head coach and former NFL quarterback G. J. Kinne led the Bobcats to a three-way tie for second place in the Sun Belt West.

Last time: Rice 38, Texas State 28 (Sept. 26, 1987)

Bowl history: Rice: First time in the First Responder Bowl, 14th bowl game in school history; Texas State: This will be Texas State’s first bowl game in school history.

Texas Bowl

TEXAS A&M (7-5) vs. No. 22 OKLAHOMA STATE (9-4)

Dec. 27, 8 p.m., ESPN

Location: Houston

Player to know: Texas A&M: First-team All-SEC Edgerrin Cooper, 84 tackles, 8.0 sacks, 17 tackles for loss; Oklahoma State: Doak Award finalist Ollie Gordon II, 1,614 yards, 20 touchdowns

It’s a fact: Texas A&M: Head coach Jimbo Fisher was fired amid a disappointing season and replaced by former Duke head coach Mike Elko.

Oklahoma State: Bounced back from a slow start to the season to make the Big 12 Championship game where they lost 49-21 to Texas.

Last time: Texas A&M 24, Oklahoma State 21 (Dec. 27, 2019)

Bowl history: Texas A&M: Fourth time in the Texas Bowl, 43rd bowl game in school history; Oklahoma State: Second Texas Bowl (both played against Texas A&M), 34th bowl game in school history.

Alamo Bowl

No. 14 ARIZONA (9-3) vs. No. 12 OKLAHOMA (10-2)

Dec. 28, 8:15, ESPN

Location: San Antonio

Player to know: Arizona: Tetairoa McMillan, 80 receptions, 1,242 yards, 10 touchdowns; Oklahoma: First-team All Big-12, Billy Bowman, 61 tackles, six interceptions, three interceptions returned for a touchdown

It’s a fact: Arizona: The Wildcats continued their ascension, under third-year coach Jedd Fisch, improving their record by four games for the second consecutive season.

Oklahoma: After a disappointing 2022 season, Oklahoma rebounded in their second year under Brent Venables. However, the Sooners will be without star QB Dillon Gabriel who has entered the transfer portal.

Las time: Arizona 6, Oklahoma 3 (Sept 16., 1989)

Bowl history: Arizona: Second time in the Alamo Bowl, 22nd bowl game in school history; Oklahoma: Second time in the Alamo Bowl, 57th bowl game in school history.

Sun Bowl

No. 21 OREGON STATE (8-4) vs. No. 15 NOTRE DAME (9-3)

Dec. 29, 1 p.m., CBS

Location: El Paso

Player to know: Oregon State: Damien Martinez, 1185 yards, nine touchdown; Notre Dame: Audric Estime, 1,341 yards, 18 touchdowns

It’s a fact: Oregon State: Oregon State will be without head coach and alum Jonathan Smith following his departure for the same position at Michigan State.

Notre Dame: Achieved back-to-back nine-win seasons under second-year head coach Marcus Freeman.

Last time: Oregon State 38, Notre Dame 21 (Dec. 28, 2004)

Bowl history: Notre Dame: Second Sun Bowl appearance, 42nd bowl game in school history; Oregon State: Third Sun Bowl appearance, 18th bowl game in school history.

CFP National Championship

The winners of the two CFP Semifinal matchups (Washington vs. Texas) and (Michigan vs. Alabama) will play for the national title.

Jan. 8, 6:30 p.m., ESPN

Location: Houston

Other bowls involving teams from the state of Texas:

CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl

No. 3 TEXAS (12-1) vs. No. 2 WASHINGTON (13-0)

Jan. 1, 7:45 p.m., ESPN

Location: New Orleans

Player to know: Washington: Heisman finalist Michael Penix Jr., 4,218 yards, 33 touchdowns, nine interceptions; Texas: All-Big 12 honorable mention Quinn Ewers, 3,161 yards, 21 touchdowns, six interceptions

It’s a fact: Washington: Undefeated winners of the Pac-12 Championship with notable wins over Oregon (twice), Arizona and Oregon State.

Texas: Rebounded from a mid-season loss to rival Oklahoma to run the table including a dominating Big 12 Championship performance.

Last time: Washington 27, Texas 20 (Dec. 29, 2022)

Bowl history: Washington: This is the Huskies’ second time in the CFP Playoffs, and their 41st bowl game in school history; Texas: This is the Longhorns’ first time in the CFP Playoffs, and their 59th bowl game in school history.

Independence Bowl

CAL (6-6) vs. TEXAS TECH (6-6)

Dec. 16, 8:15 p.m., ESPN

Player to know: Cal: Jaydn Ott, 1,260 Yards, 11 touchdowns; Texas Tech: Tahj Brooks, 1,443 yards, nine touchdowns

It’s a fact: Cal: The Golden Bears placed eighth in the Pac-12 during their final season in the conference before moving to the ACC in 2024.

Texas Tech: The Raiders suffered a setback in their second-year under head coach Joey McGuire losing two more games than in the previous season and starting the season 0-2 for the first time in 33 years.

Last time : Texas Tech 45, Cal 31 (Dec. 31, 2004)

Bowl history: Cal: It’s the Golden Bears’ first time in the Independence Bowl and the 25th bowl game in school history; Texas Tech: The Red Raiders’ third Independence Bowl and 41st bowl game in school history.

Fenway Bowl

No. 17 SMU (11-2) vs. BOSTON COLLEGE (6-6)

Dec. 28, 10 a.m., ESPN

Player to know: SMU: Second-Team All-AAC Elijah Roberts, 29 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss; Boston College: Thomas Castellanos, 2,146 yards, 15 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 957 yards, 11 touchdowns.

It;s a fact: SMU: The Mustangs won the AAC championship game 26-14 against Tulane in their final year before moving to the ACC.

Boston College: The Eagles placed 10th in the ACC, despite winning three more games than they did last season.

Last time: SMU 31, Boston College 29 (Oct. 4, 1986)

Bowl history: SMU: This is the Mustangs’ first time in the Fenway bowl and the 19th bowl game in school history; Boston College: This is the Eagles first time in the Fenway Bowl and the 28th bowl game in school history.