HOUSTON – Texas A&M and No. 20 ranked Oklahoma State have accepted bids to play in the 2023 TaxAct Texas Bowl, the bowl organizing committee announced Sunday.
The 2023 TaxAct Texas Bowl will be played at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN and simulcasted on ESPN+ with national radio on ESPN Radio and a local radio broadcast available on SportsRadio 610 (KILT-AM). Tickets and suites are now available for purchase www.taxacttexasbowl.com.
"We are thrilled to announce the 2023 TaxAct Texas Bowl between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, two prestigious institutions from the SEC and Big 12," remarked TaxAct Texas Bowl Executive Director David Fletcher. "The Bowl has become one of the largest annual events in our community and we're excited to welcome back Texas A&M and Oklahoma State to Houston. We can't wait to host these teams and their fan bases for a full week of Texas-themed events that will culminate in a primetime showdown at NRG Stadium on December 27."
Texas A&M will represent the Southeastern Conference, while Oklahoma State will represent the Big 12 Conference. The two programs have met 27 times before, with their most recent matchup coming in the 2019 TaxAct Texas Bowl when Texas A&M defeated Oklahoma State, 24-21, on December 27, 2019. The 2023 TaxAct Texas Bowl will mark the Aggies fourth appearance in the bowl and their first since 2019. The Cowboys will make their second appearance in the TaxAct Texas Bowl after being selected in 2019.
"We're excited for TaxAct to be the title sponsor of this game for a third year in a row. Watching this game and celebrating these two great teams is a perfect way to close the year," said TaxAct Chief Product Officer, Bastien Martini. "And as we're nearing the end of the college football season, tax season is just around the corner. Rest assured, our team is gearing up and ready to help Americans – from young professionals to small business owners tackle their taxes confidently and successfully, so they can check filing taxes off their list."
Texas A&M comes to Houston on the heels of a 7-5 campaign after finishing 4-4 in the SEC. The Aggies started their season with a bang, routing New Mexico 52-10 and trumping Arkansas 34-22 in an SEC West showdown to go 4-1 through their first five games.
Under interim coach Elijah Robinson, the Aggies defense ranked tenth in the nation in yards allowed per game (299.8) and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper's 17 tackles for loss leads the SEC and is tied for 10th nationally. Offensively, the high-flying Aggies have tallied over 400 yards of total offense in eight of the team's 12 games this season, and rank 22nd nationally and fourth in the SEC, averaging 33.8 points per game.
Oklahoma State enters the game 9-4 (7-3 in the Big 12), with wins in seven of their last nine games, including a key conference victory over No. 12 Oklahoma and a historic comeback win over BYU. The Cowboys saw standout performances on both sides of the ball throughout the season, led by the nation's top rusher and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, running back Ollie Gordon II.
Gordon, a unanimous Big 12 First Team All-Conference selection, was also nominated as one of three finalists for the Doak Walker Award after rushing for 1,580 yards (6.4 avg.) and 20 touchdowns in 12 games played. Sophomore linebacker Nickolas Martin also received first team honors, as he leads all Big 12 defenders with 120 total tackles. The Cowboys are led by 19th-year head coach Mike Gundy, who was recently named the 2023 Chuck Neinas Big 12 Coach of the Year, the third time in his career garnering the honor. Gundy owns a career record of 165-78 (.679), the sixth-most wins among active FBS coaches, and an 11-6 (.647) record in bowl game appearances.
The 2023 edition of the TaxAct Texas Bowl will mark the event's 10th year of affiliation with the Big 12 and the SEC. In the 2022 TaxAct Texas Bowl, Texas Tech defeated Ole Miss, 42-25. Red Raiders QB Tyler Shough won MVP honors, going 24-of-39 for 242 yards and one touchdown with two rushing scores. The game welcomed 52,251 fans to NRG Stadium and had a total live audience of over 2.5 million.
Entering its 18th year, the TaxAct Texas Bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, and managed locally by Lone Star Sports & Entertainment, an event management company founded in 2003 that is closely affiliated with the NFL's Houston Texans. Since 2016, the TaxAct Texas Bowl has the fifth-highest attendance among all college football bowls, trailing only the Rose, Peach, Fiesta and Orange bowls. The TaxAct Texas Bowl and its sister event, the Texas Kickoff, have combined to create an economic impact of close to $80 million annually for the city of Houston while raising over $2.3 million in financial support and millions more in promotional support for DePelchin Children's Center, Houston's oldest children's charity and the bowl's official charitable beneficiary.
