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 Saint ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. 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 only ...

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 o ...

. 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 ...

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 Oklahom ...

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 f ...

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 was the second highest ranked team at 14th in the playoff rankings, so they were selected for the Sugar Bowl.

Oklahoma 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 ...

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). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 to 2020. During the 20 ...

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. 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

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 ...

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: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, 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, ...

which gave the Sooners the Big 12 championship and the Sugar Bowl berth.

Game summary

Statistics

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sugar Bowl 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games

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2017 Sugar Bowl 2017 Sugar Bowl January 2017 sports events in the United States 2017 in sports in Louisiana 21st century in New Orleans