2015 Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State: Date, time, location and more

The 2015 Sugar Bowl was a College Football Playoff semifinal and featured the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, but with the luster of playoff seeding two years away for the Sugar Bowl, it will return to its tie-ins of pitting the Big 12 against the SEC.

The Big 12 hasn’t had a tie to the Sugar Bowl for long, as the Oklahoma Sooners in 2014 were the first Big 12 team to receive an invite from the bowl because of a tie-in, but they made good on that invite by defeating Alabama, 45-31. In fact, it’s been six seasons since the SEC was able to earn a victory in the game after dominating with seven wins in the nine years prior.

Originally, the Sugar Bowl was held at Tulane Stadium for four decades before relocating to the Superdome in 1975, where it has remained, with the exception of 2006 when it was moved to the Georgia Dome due to damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Here is everything you need to know to get ready for this year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl:

Date and time: Friday, Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Location: New Orleans, La.

Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 73,208

Last year’s score: Ohio State 42, Alabama 35

Last year’s attendance: 74,682

Last year’s TV rating: 15.2

Last year’s payout for each school: $18 million

Teams with the most all-time appearances: Alabama, 15

Teams with the most all-time wins: Alabama, 8

Ole Miss was one last-second, fluky play away from beating Arkansas and earning a trip to the SEC Championship Game, thanks to its win over Alabama early in the year. Despite the strange blowout losses to Memphis and Florida, the Rebels had an impressive year with wins over LSU and Texas A&M, plus wins on the road against both Alabama and Auburn to become Alabama state champs.

The Ole Miss offense has been very impressive under new quarterback Chad Kelly. Even without quarterback Bo Wallace, the offense didn’t miss a beat, putting up at least 38 points in each of its final three games. The defense struggled at times, but it still has hard hitters in the front seven.

Most importantly, the Rebels avoided a November collapse like last season. Now, can they avoid a bowl collapse after losing 42-3 to TCU in last year’s Peach Bowl?

Last bowl game: 2014 Peach Bowl (42-3 loss to TCU)

All-time bowl record: 23-13

Head coach’s bowl record: Hugh Freeze is 2-1 in bowl games.

After a 10-0 start, Oklahoma State was dreaming of winning the Big 12 and making the College Football Playoff, but due to a back-loaded schedule, the Cowboys saved their two toughest games for last against Baylor and Oklahoma. A win over TCU had Oklahoma State feeling good, but the Cowboys were blown out by both the Bears and the Sooners, ending their chance to make the Playoff.

However, this has still been a great season for OSU, with a resurgent offense that put up 49 points on TCU and 70 on Texas Tech. The dual-QB system of Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh worked well, and it meant the Cowboys were never out of a game.

The defense was more suspect. Oklahoma State played a lot of close games against inferior teams like€” Texas, Kansas State and Iowa State, to name a few, and that was partly due to the defense. The defense was particularly exposed against Baylor, with the Bears mostly playing a third-string quarterback, and Oklahoma. Can it get back to respectability to complement the offense in a bowl game?

Last bowl game: 2014 season’s Cactus Bowl (30-22 win over Washington)

All-time bowl record: 16-9

Head coach’s bowl record: Mike Gundy is 6-3 in bowl games, all at Oklahoma State.