The 2017 Sugar Bowl is a
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
that was played on January 2, 2017 at the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
in
. This 83rd
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...
was played between a team from the
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
and the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
. It is one of the
2016–17 bowl games that concluded the
2016 FBS football season. Sponsored by the
Allstate
The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook since 1967. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993 but still partially owned by S ...
insurance company, the game is officially known as the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The game was notable as Oklahoma's last under longtime head coach
Bob Stoops
Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma ...
prior to his retirement.
Teams
The two teams were selected by the
College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
committee on December 4, 2016. The highest-ranked team from the
SEC and the
Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...
were to be selected. However, the highest-ranked team from the SEC, Alabama, was selected in the semifinals of the playoff, so the second highest ranked SEC team went in their place.
Auburn
Auburn may refer to:
Places Australia
* Auburn, New South Wales
* City of Auburn, the local government area
*Electoral district of Auburn
*Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region
*Auburn, South Australia
*Auburn, Tasmania
*Aub ...
was the second highest ranked team at 14th in the playoff rankings, so they were selected for the Sugar Bowl.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
was the Big 12 champion and the conference's highest ranked at 7th, therefore sending the Sooners to the Sugar Bowl.
This was the second meeting between the two schools; the previous meeting was the
1972 Sugar Bowl, which saw the
Sooners
Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign, ...
defeat the
Tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
by a score of 40–22.
Auburn
After a disappointing
2015 season, Auburn coach
Gus Malzahn
Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF Knights football, UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 t ...
was considered to be at risk of losing his job if a similar season followed. The season started out poorly for the Tigers, as they started 1–2, with both losses coming to nationally-ranked teams. However, in week 4, the Tigers played rival
LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
. LSU was #18 heading into the game, but it was Auburn that won 18–13. That started a six-game win streak that put the Tigers into the national Top 10. Towards the end of the season, injuries began to plague the Tigers, and they lost 2 of their final 3 games. However, losses by
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
sent the Tigers to the Sugar Bowl.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma made the playoff in the
2015 season, and many experts expected them to compete for another playoff berth. However, much like Auburn, the Sooners started 1–2, with both losses coming against nationally-ranked opponents. That start ended any hope of going back to the playoff. In the annual rivalry game against
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, the Sooners won a close and hard-fought victory over the Longhorns, which started a turnaround and a nine-game win streak for the Sooners. Included in that win streak was a win against
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
which gave the Sooners the Big 12 championship and the Sugar Bowl berth.
Game summary
Statistics
References
External links
Game statisticsat statbroadcast.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugar Bowl
2016–17 NCAA football bowl games
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
2017 Sugar Bowl
2017 Sugar Bowl
January 2017 sports events in the United States
2017 in sports in Louisiana
21st century in New Orleans