2014 Texas Bowl, Texas vs. Arkansas: Date, time, location and more

The AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl has been a pretty fun matchup in recent years. The 2013 edition featured a Syracuse touchdown with 1:14 remaining to upend Minnesota, and the Golden Gophers were on the short end of the stick again in 2012. In that game, with future Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury looking on, Tech scored 10 points in the final 1:10 to come away with a 34-31 victory. The most Texas thing about the Texas Bowl is that it is played in NRG Stadium, which boasts a record attendance of 80,020 fans who showed up for George Strait’s Cowboy Rides Away Tour last March.

This year, we’ll see another Texas thing ... Texas! The Longhorns will take on Arkansas.

Date and time, ET: Monday, Dec. 29, at 9 p.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Location: Houston

Stadium: NRG Stadium; 71,054

Last year’s score: Syracuse 21, Minnesota 17

Last year’s attendance: 32,327

Last year’s TV rating: 2.5

Last year’s payout for each school: $850,000

Team with the most all-time appearances: Minnesota, two

Team with the most all-time wins: Illinois, Navy, Rice, Rutgers, Syracuse, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech; one

A long, difficult season in Austin comes to an end with, somewhat surprisingly, a bowl trip for first-year Texas coach Charlie Strong and his team. The Longhorns started their season with four losses in their first six games, including a blowout defeat against BYU and convincing loss to Baylor. The early-season troubles were coupled with a number of player dismissals as Strong implemented a high standard of discipline.

As November opened, the Longhorns were 3-5 and looking unlikely to reach a bowl game. But three consecutive wins over Texas Tech, West Virginia and Oklahoma State got the Longhorns to six wins before a season-ending defeat to TCU.

Sophomore quarterback Tyrone Swoopes struggled in his first season as a starter, taking over for the injured David Ash. Swoopes threw for 2,352 yards and 13 touchdowns, but his 10 interceptions and 5.9 yards per attempt did not help a Texas offense desperate for a spark. Strong knows how to coach defense, though, and his first iteration at Texas allowed just 23 points per game in the offense-happy Big 12.

Last bowl game: 2013 Alamo Bowl vs. Oregon, 30-7 loss

All-time bowl record: 27-23-2

Head coach’s bowl record: Charlie Strong, 3-2

Finishing 2-6 in conference play usually isn’t cause for celebration, but the Razorbacks will take it. After beginning the 2014 SEC campaign 0-5, extending its conference losing streak to 17 games, Arkansas knocked off LSU and Ole Miss by a combined 47-0. The regular season ended with a 21-14 loss at SEC East champ Mizzou, but there are signs of life in Fayetteville.

Head coach Bret Bielema seems to be getting his system in place. The Hogs defense allowed 9.5 points per game in their last four conference matchups, and they were fourth in the SEC in rushing yards per game. Running backs Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins combined for 2,109 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Last bowl game: 2012 Cotton Bowl vs. Kansas State, 29-16 win

All-time bowl record: 13-23-3

Head coach’s bowl record:Bret Bielema, 2-4