Texas A&M +3 (-110) over Oklahoma State
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- A&M is looking to impress a new coaching staff on the field in this game, as players are hoping to earn their spots for 2024.
- The Aggies were mediocre this seson but that was against a brutal SEC schedule.
The Texas Bowl just makes sense in the college football bowl season, given how powerful the state is in the overall landscape of the sport. In many years, we see at least one Texas team take part in this game, but that is not a guarantee. Here, we look at this relatively new entry into the college football bowl schedule, by looking at the history of the game along with this year’s edition of the game.
2023 Texas Bowl Analysis
In this year’s Texas Bowl, it is a fascinating inter-conference matchup between the Texas A&M Aggies and Oklahoma State Cowboys. Oklahoma State made the Big 12 championship game this season, while Texas A&M had a mediocre season that led to them buying out head coach Jimbo Fisher for an insane amount of money. This game represents a chance for the Aggies to take a huge step forward looking ahead to the changes that are coming.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys would have loved to have been playing in a bigger bowl game than this, but they were blown out in the Big 12 title game by the Texas Longhorns. Nonetheless, it has been a very successful season for Oklahoma State, as they outperformed their in-state rivals in the Oklahoma Sooners. This game is a great chance for them to end the year on a high note and to finish the year ranked in the top-25.
Texas Bowl History
The first Texas Bowl was played in 2006 and it has been going strong ever since. It currently has tie-ins with the SEC and the Big 12, making it an attractive power conference matchup each season. In previous years, there were conference tie-ins with the Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, and Mountain West, but those ties have since dissolved. Below is a full list of participants in this game and the winners of each year’s edition of the contest.
| Year | Winners | Runners-Up |
| 2006 | Rutgers | Kansas State |
| 2007 | TCU | Houston |
| 2008 | Rice | Western Michigan |
| 2009 | Navy | Missouri |
| 2010 | Illinois | Baylor |
| 2011 | Texas A&M | Northwestern |
| 2012 | Texas Tech | Minnesota |
| 2013 | Syracuse | Minnesota |
| 2014 | Arkansas | Texas |
| 2015 | LSU | Texas Tech |
| 2016 | Kansas State | Texas A&M |
| 2017 | Texas | Missouri |
| 2018 | Baylor | Vanderbilt |
| 2019 | Texas A&M | Oklahoma State |
| 2021 | Kansas State | LSU |
| 2022 | Texas Tech | Ole Miss |
Bowl Game MVPs
The list of MVPs from this game is an impressive one, thanks largely to the power conference tie-ins that this game has had over the years. Future pros like Andy Dalton and Leonard Fournette highlight the list of Texas Bowl MVP award winners, with each year producing just one MVP for the game, as opposed to the multiple MVPs that are awarded in many other bowl matchups. Below is the full list of MVPs for this matchup over the years.
| Year | MVP | Team |
| 2006 | Ray Rice | Rutgers |
| 2007 | Andy Dalton | TCU |
| 2008 | Chase Clement | Rice |
| 2009 | Ricky Dobbs | Navy |
| 2010 | Mikel Leshoure | Illinois |
| 2011 | Ryan Tannehill | Texas A&M |
| 2012 | Seth Doege | Texas Tech |
| 2013 | Terrel Hunt | Syracuse |
| 2014 | Brandon Allen | Arkansas |
| 2015 | Leonard Fournette | LSU |
| 2016 | Jesse Ertz | Kansas State |
| 2017 | Michael Dickson | Texas |
| 2018 | Charlie Brewer | Baylor |
| 2019 | Kellen Mond | Texas A&M |
| 2021 | Skylar Thompson | Kansas State |
| 2022 | Tyler Shough | Texas Tech |
