Arizona vs. Oklahoma predictions, odds for Thursday night game

Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch talks with quarterback Noah Fifita (11) during the first quarter against Arizona State at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Nov. 25, 2023.

The 2023 Alamo Bowl will feature the Pac-12’s Arizona Wildcats taking on the Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The No. 14 Wildcats are enjoying their best season of the last decade while the No. 12 Sooners are disappointed after losses to Texas and Oklahoma State kept them out of a New Year’s Six Bowl in 2023.

Oklahoma certainly has the edge in bowl experience ahead of this one. The Sooners have made a bowl game every season since 1999; Arizona’s in the postseason for the first time since 2017.

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It’s an interesting matchup at quarterback for both teams. Arizona’s redshirt freshman signal-caller Noah Fifita took over from starter Jayden de Laura against Stanford and led the Wildcats to a top-15 ranking for just the third time since 2000. Fifita comes from a family of defensive players and will lead the Wildcats in their first Alamo Bowl since 2010. de Laura stated on Christmas he will transfer after the bowl game.

Oklahoma’s starter this year, Dillon Gabriel, is transferring to Oregon and won’t play. Instead, freshman Jackson Arnold will make his first college start. Sooners coach Brent Venables is already drawing comparisons to Oklahoma great Sam Bradford when talking about Arnold.

This marks the third time the two schools are meeting on the football field. The most recent game came in 1989 when the Wildcats won 6-3 in Tucson.

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2023 Alamo Bowl: Arizona vs. Oklahoma predictions

Sportsbook Wire: Arizona 37, Oklahoma 31

Jess Root writes, “This should be a high-scoring game and,…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/alamo-bowl-2023-arizona-vs-233412860.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-28 23:34:12

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