The Oklahoma Sooners are back in bowl season after beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville. Oklahoma is 4-3 and needs just two more wins to earn bowl eligibility. However, the Sooners have much bigger aspirations over the final six games.

In the latest bowl projections from USA TODAY Sports and college football writer Erick Smith, the Sooners are heading to the Texas Bowl to take on Bedlam rivals Oklahoma State. Oklahoma holds a 91-20-7 all-time lead over the Cowboys. The Sooners haven't played the Cowboys since the 2023 season, when they lost 27-24 in Stillwater. OU and OSU split the last four meetings, with the home team winning each time.

Oklahoma State is working back to respectability in their first season under Eric Morris. The Cowboys are 5-2 on the season and 3-1 in Big 12 play. After a season-opening upset loss to Tulsa, the Cowboys knocked off Oregon in Stillwater for a marquee win to kickstart the Morris era.

Though bowl games have taken a backseat to the College Football Playoff in the 12-team era, a Texas Bowl matchup between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would be a marquee bowl-season game. In addition to Smith's projection, Brad Crawford of CBS Sports and Mark Schlabach of ESPN both project the same matchup.

Though they go in different directions in their bowl projections, ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and Athlon Sports' Steve Lassan also projected matchups that could draw a lot of eyes. Bonagura projects Oklahoma to meet USC in the Las Vegas Bowl, while Lassan projects the Sooners and Nebraska Cornhuskers to meet in the Music City Bowl.