Philadelphia, PA – After missing out on an at-large BCS bid, Big 12 co-champion Oklahoma will have to settle for a matchup against Heisman- hopeful Johnny Manziel and the 10th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies in the Cotton Bowl at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Jan. 4.
The 12th-ranked Sooners (10-2) had their hopes of a BCS bowl dashed after Mid- American Conference champion Northern Illinois (12-1) finished 15th in the BCS standings to earn the MAC's first automatic BCS bowl bid.
Manziel and the Aggies (10-2), who upset then-No.1 Alabama on Nov. 10, come into the Cotton Bowl riding a five-game winning streak.
No. 6 Georgia was eight yards away from playing for a BCS national championship, but time ran out on the Bulldogs deep in Alabama territory in Saturday's SEC Championship Game as they fell, 32-28, to the Crimson Tide in the de facto national title semifinal.
Georgia (11-2) will meet No. 23 Nebraska on New Year's Day in the Capital One Bowl at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. The Cornhuskers (10-3) will be making their second straight Capital One Bowl appearance, having lost to South Carolina, 30-13, last season.
Along with these two marquee-matchups, a number of other teams accepted invitations on Sunday to play in the other non-BCS bowl games.
A rundown of those matchups:
Along with the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, three other games get underway on Jan. 1, including No. 11 South Carolina taking on No. 19 Michigan in the Outback Bowl. Also on New Year's Day, Purdue does battle with Oklahoma State in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, while Northwestern and Mississippi State meet in the Gator Bowl.
New Year's Eve will feature four games: the Chick-fil-A Bowl features No. 9 LSU against No. 14 Clemson; the Sun Bowl pits USC against ACC-runner up Georgia Tech; NC State takes on Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl, and Tulsa and Iowa State square off in the Liberty Bowl.
There are also two non-BCS bowl games after the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4: Mississippi will play Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl before Kent State and Arkansas State wrap things up on Jan. 6 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Fans won't have to wait that long for the games to start.
There are two games on December 15: Nevada will face Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl and Toledo will meet Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
San Diego State will face BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20, while Ball State will match up with UCF in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl on Dec. 21.
On Dec. 22, Boise State will make its second straight Las Vegas Bowl appearance when they take on Washington, and Louisiana-Lafayette will face East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl.
Fresno State and SMU face off in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 before Central Michigan and Western Kentucky meet in the Little Caesars Bowl on Dec. 26
As usual, things pick up after the holiday.
Dec. 27 will see three games on the slate: Cincinnati vs. Duke in the Belk Bowl, UCLA vs. Baylor in the Holiday Bowl and Bowling Green vs. San Jose State in the Military Bowl.
Ohio will play in the Independence Bowl opposite Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 28, while Texas Tech and Minnesota face off in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Rutgers takes on Virginia Tech in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
There are five games scheduled on Dec. 29, including the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl between TCU and Michigan State.
West Virginia and Syracuse will meet in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, Arizona State and Navy will play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Air Force and Rice will do battle in the Armed Forces Bowl and Texas squares off with Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl.
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