FAYETTEVILLE -- Texas Bowl President Jamey Rootes said he thinks his Houston-based game pulled off one of the coups of the bowl pairing process by landing former Southwest Conference rivals Arkansas and Texas.
"You look at what makes for a great matchup, and this one's got all the components," Rootes said in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "You've got two teams with a rivalry history that spans over a century with 77 meetings; two teams that are national brands that have large and loyal followings, and two evenly-matched teams.
Texas Bowl
ARKANSAS VS. TEXAS
WHEN 8 p.m. Central Dec. 29
WHERE NRG Stadium, Houston
RECORDS Arkansas 6-6; Texas 6-6
TV ESPN
Texas Bowl history
2006 Rutgers 37, Kansas State 10
2007 TCU 20, Houston 13
2008 Rice 38, Western Michigan 14
2009 Navy 35, Missouri 13
2010 Illinois 38, Baylor 14
2011 Texas A&M 33, Northwestern 22
2012 Texas Tech 34, Minnesota 31
2013 Syracuse 21, Minnesota 17
"At least on paper it appears that it's a real evenly-matched game and two programs that are clearly pointed straight up, given the finish that each of them had to the season."
The 6-6 Razorbacks meet the 6-6 Longhorns for the 78th time overall and the second time in a bowl game at 8 p.m. Dec. 29 at NRG Stadium.
Arkansas won two of its last three games by shutting out No. 17 LSU 17-0 and No. 8 Ole Miss 30-0 in back-to-back games at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Longhorns won three consecutive games in November to reach six victories.
"There's an energized fan base there on both sides, so we're thrilled to have the Big Shootout revived here at NRG Stadium," Rootes said. "Really as we started the college football season, you couldn't have drawn it up much better."
Rootes called the process that led to Arkansas' selection for the Texas Bowl an interesting one with "a lot of hurry up and wait" before the pairing was completed late Sunday afternoon.
"On the Big 12 side, it was a traditional selection," Rootes said. "When the opportunity came up, Texas was available and we took them.
"On the SEC side, it was a little different this year. It was a placement. Both the schools and the bowls had an opportunity in that six-bowl window to express our preferences and priorities. Fortunately for us, the matching process worked out beautifully and made for a fantastic game for Dec. 29."
Rootes said the much discussed speculation that Texas A&M and Texas preferred not to be matched up after severing their decades-long football relationship when the Aggies departed for the SEC in 2012 was "not a part of our conversations."
Texas A&M accepted a berth in the Liberty Bowl, where the Aggies (7-5) will meet West Virginia (7-5) at 2 p.m. on Dec. 29.
Rootes also serves as president of the Houston Texans and noted the connections the NFL team shares with the Razorbacks. Former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett is a member of the Texans, and defensive end J.J. Watt and tight end Garrett Graham played for Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema during his tenure at Wisconsin.
"There's lots of connections here," Rootes said. "We're looking forward to having all the Razorback faithful here in Houston at the end of the month."
Sports on 12/10/2014