The 2020 Cotton Bowl Classic was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

played on December 30, 2020, with kickoff at 8:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. local CST) on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. It was the 85th edition of the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football season. Sponsored by the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...

, the game was officially known as the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Teams

As one of the

New Year's Six The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, are the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. These games are traditionally play ...

bowl games, the participants of the game were determined by the College Football Playoff selection committee. The committee matched No. 7

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) against No. 6

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. The teams had only met once previously, a 24–14 Florida victory in the

2009 BCS National Championship Game The 2009 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was an American football game played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on January 8, 2009. It was the nationa ...

. Several players from both teams opted not to participate in the game, choosing to prepare for the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

. The opt-outs included three of Florida's receivers:

Trevon Grimes Trevon Grimes (born November 28, 1998) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the Florida Gators. Early life Grimes grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School, where he ...

Kyle Pitts Kyle Anthony Pitts (born October 6, 2000) is an American professional football tight end for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, where he was named a unanimous All-America ...

, and

Kadarius Toney Kadarius Toney (born January 27, 1999) is an American professional football player who is a free agent. He played college football for the Florida Gators and was selected by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. He previ ...

Florida Gators

Florida entered the bowl with an 8–3 record. The Gators were 8–2 in SEC play, then lost the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

to top-ranked

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. The Gators' other losses were to

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. Florida defeated one ranked team during the season,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. This was the Gators' first appearance in a Cotton Bowl.

Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma entered the bowl with an 8–2 record. The Sooners were 6–2 in Big 12 play, then won the

Big 12 Championship Game The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 201 ...

over

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

. The Sooners had lost earlier in the season to Iowa State; their only other loss was to

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

. Oklahoma defeated two ranked teams during conference play;

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. The Sooners had played in two prior Cotton Bowls, winning in January 2002 and losing in January 2013.

Game summary

Statistics

The Sooners tied the Cotton Bowl record for most points scored, with 55, and set new Cotton Bowl records for rushing yards, with 435, and total yards, with 684.

Notes

References

External links

*
Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Oklahoma Sooners bowl game navbox

Cotton Bowl Classic

Cure Bowl The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played in December of each year since 2015 in Orlando, Florida. It is currently held at Camping World Stadium, and in the past has been held at FBC Mortgage Stadium and ...

Florida Gators football bowl games Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games