Notre Dame football: Have Irish ever played Oklahoma State in football?
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team will battle it out against Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl, but have these two programs ever played each other before?
On New Years Day, the Notre Dame football team will battle it out against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl. The Irish are coming off a stellar 11-1 regular season, that saw them come on in the final five weeks, nearly earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Oklahoma State looked to be locked into a College Football Playoff spot, but that was before losing to the Baylor Bears in the Big 12 Championship Game. Both teams are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and this has the opportunity to be one of the better bowl games on the New Years Day slate.
Both programs are in the top-40 all-time in bowl game appearances, but Oklahoma State has had more success, ranking No. 6 overall in win percentages in bowl games. Notre Dame football has a losing record in bowl games, but that is because the bowl games they play in are usually elite.
Notre Dame football has never played Oklahoma State
Heading into this matchup, it was interesting to see how these two programs have fared against each other in their histories. Looking into who has the better record, it was interesting to find out that this will be the first matchup between these two programs.
So while these two programs have been around forever, they have never played each other, whether it be a bowl game, or in the regular season. That brings even more intrigue to this matchup, as you have to figure that the team that wins this one, is likely to finish up in the top-4 of the final rankings.
Notre Dame football was left for dead early in the season, and many felt this could end up being a rebuilding year for the program. However, they go into this game as one of the top-5 teams in the country, and even with Kyren Williams and Kyle Hamilton out, they have to be considered the favorite in this matchup.