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Seasoned Sooners await

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Updated Dec 7, 2009 5:30 AM ET
     
 
The Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 31, will be Stanford's first bowl game since 2001, and the Cardinal will be looking for their first bowl win since 1996. On the other hand, a bowl game is old sombrero to their opponent, Oklahoma. The Sooners will be playing their 11th bowl game in 11 years under coach Bob Stoops. Both schools accepted invitations Sunday, setting up a matchup between Cardinal running back Toby Gerhart and the Sooners' seventh-ranked defense, which is also seventh against the run. "There's a sense of pride there that our football team played well enough to be matched against Oklahoma in a bowl game," coach Jim Harbaugh said. "It's big." Though the 19th-ranked Cardinal fell shy of their Rose Bowl aspirations, they finished 8-4 and tied for second in the PAC-10 at 6-3 in Harbaugh's third season. Less than a year ago, Oklahoma reached the Bowl Championship Series title game but lost to Florida 24-14. The Sooners had expected to contend for the Big 12 title and a possible national title but had to settle for a tie for third in the conference's South Division after losing quarterback Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, to a shoulder injury. Sun Bowl Chairman John Folmer expressed pleasure in getting Gerhart, one of this year's prime Heisman candidates, and Harbaugh, whom he called "one of the hottest head coaches in the nation. "On the other side, how can you ever go wrong with Oklahoma? Everybody in college football would die for an opportunity to have a dynamic head coach like Bob Stoops and Oklahoma play in their bowl game." The Sooners, making their 43rd bowl appearance, are expected to have a large following at 51,500-seat Sun Bowl Stadium. Stanford has made two trips to the Sun Bowl. It beat LSU in 1977 and Michigan State in 1996. The Cardinal will resume practices Saturday night after spending this week taking finals. Harbaugh said a bowl game greatly helps recruiting, "especially if you win. ... Recruits watch these games. You sure want to win them and put your best foot forward as a program." Fun in the Sun Sun Bowl Oklahoma 7-5 vs. Stanford 8-4 El Paso, Texas 11 a.m. Dec. 31 Channel: 5 Channel: 13 Channel: 46 /860 Available at the Stanford athletics ticket office, TicketMaster outlets, or at gostanford.com, ticketmaster.com. or sunbowl.org.
Tagged: Stanford, Texas, Oklahoma

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