Alabama To Face Oklahoma State in 2006 PetroSun Independence Bowl

December 3, 2006

Shreveport, La. -- PetroSun Independence Bowl officials announced on Sunday that the Alabama Crimson Tide will face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 2006 PetroSun Independence Bowl set for Thursday, Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN from Independence Stadium.

Alabama, representing the Southeastern Conference, enters the game with a 6-6 record while Oklahoma State of the Big 12 Conference also owns a 6-6 mark. The Crimson Tide is making its second all-time appearance in Shreveport, having previously beaten Iowa State by a score of 14-13 in the 2001 game. Oklahoma State will also play in the Independence Bowl for the second time. The Cowboys lost 33-16 to Texas A&M in 1981. Alabama and Oklahoma State will be meeting for the first time.

“We at the PetroSun Independence Bowl are very excited about the matchup that we are able to provide this year,” said PetroSun Independence Bowl chair Markey Pierre. “This year’s game will showcase two of football’s great programs in Alabama and Oklahoma State on Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m. in a game that should be electrifying.”

This year’s contest marks the eighth Big 12-SEC matchup since the bowl first aligned with those two conferences in 1998 as Ole Miss faced Texas Tech. The SEC won the first six meetings until Missouri’s 38-31 victory over South Carolina in last year’s 30th anniversary game. Oklahoma State becomes the first team from the Big 12 South division to play in the Independence Bowl since Texas A&M in 2000.
The Crimson Tide is making its 54th all-time bowl game appearance, which leads the NCAA, and the Tide has also won 30 bowl games in school history, which is also tops in college football history. Oklahoma State is playing in a bowl game for the 17th time overall and the first time since a 33-7 loss to Ohio State in the 2004 Alamo Bowl.

Alabama, coming off of a 10-2 campaign in 2005 that ended with a 10-3 win over Texas Tech in the AT&T Cotton Bowl, began the season 3-0. The Tide then lost three conference games by a combined 11 points, including a one-point loss in double-overtime to Western division champion Arkansas. Alabama defeated Ole Miss and Vanderbilt in SEC play and also beat a bowl-bound Hawaii team in its season-opener.

The Cowboys were just seconds away from defeating in-state rival and division champion Oklahoma last weekend at home before losing 27-21, but OSU did defeat North champion Nebraska earlier in the season by a score of 41-29. The Cowboys, like Alabama, also suffered some tough defeats during the season as Oklahoma State lost to Texas A&M by a count of 34-33 in overtime and lost 30-24 to Texas Tech. OSU also picked up key conference wins over Baylor and Kansas during the season.

Tickets for the 2006 PetroSun Independence Bowl as well as Bowl Week event tickets are available to the public by calling the Bowl Office at 318.221.0712 or toll free at 888.414.BOWL (2695) or by visiting the bowl’s official web site at www.independencebowl.org.

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