NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Washington, from the Pac-12 Conference, and Texas, from the Big-12 Conference, will be featured in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in the Caesars Superdome.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 7:45 p.m. (Central) and will be televised by ESPN.
While the game is officially sold out, the Sugar Bowl Committee encourages fans still looking to purchase tickets to visit Ticketmaster as the official verified resale platform of the 2024 Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl will be doubling as a College Football Playoff (CFP) Semifinal for the fourth time since the start of the four-team college football postseason format which was established for the 2014 season. The three previous Playoff Semifinals combined for nearly 70 million worldwide viewers on ESPN’s platforms.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the Sugar Bowl to host two of the top college football teams in the country for a Playoff Semifinal,” said Richard Briede, the President of the Sugar Bowl Committee. “And we’re very excited as Washington and Texas are outstanding universities who have proven themselves to have tremendous football programs with strong followings of diehard fans. The energy in New Orleans for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day is going to be amazing.”
This season will mark the final year of the current four-team format for the CFP. Starting with the 2024 regular season, the CFP will expand to a 12-team playoff. The Allstate Sugar Bowl will host New Year’s Day Playoff Quarterfinals following both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
“The Allstate Sugar Bowl has hosted the best in college football for our first 89 years,” said Jeff Hundley, the chief executive officer of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “Washington and Texas will ensure that the 90th annual Sugar Bowl continues that long run of excellence. We can’t wait to welcome all the passionate Husky and Longhorn fans who pack the Superdome as well as the fans around the world who will watch this important match-up on ESPN.”
The winner of this year’s game, the 90th annual Sugar Bowl Classic, will advance to the College Football Playoff Championship on Monday, Jan. 8, in Houston. The other Playoff Semifinal pits No. 1 Michigan against No. 4 Alabama and will be played at the Rose Bowl, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. (Central), also on ESPN.
Washington (13-0, 9-0 Pac-12) was ranked No. 3 by the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee in last week’s CFP Rankings and it moved up one spot to No. 2 following its 34-31 victory over No. 5 Oregon in Friday’s Pac-12 Championship game. After being ranked No. 7 in last week’s CFP Rankings, Texas (12-1, 8-1 Big 12) moved up to No. 3 in today’s rankings after its impressive 49-21 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship game.
Washington, as the higher seed, will be the home team and will occupy the home bench on the west sideline of the Caesars Superdome while Texas will occupy the visitor bench on the east sideline.
This year’s Sugar Bowl will be a rematch of last year’s Alamo Bowl – Washington posted a 27-20 victory over Texas in that game on Dec. 29, 2022. The two teams have met four other times with the Longhorns holding a 3-2 edge in the series. The first two meetings were a Texas sweep of a home-and-home series (35-21 in Austin on Oct. 5, 1974, and 28-10 in Seattle on Sept. 20, 1975). The other meetings also came in bowls with Washington winning 14-7 in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 22, 1979, and Texas winning 47-43 in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28, 2001.
Washington will be the first Pac-12 team to play in the Sugar Bowl while schools that are currently in the Big 12 have made 25 Sugar Bowl appearances with an all-time mark of 15-10 (.600). Washington and Texas are the 94th and 95th conference champions to play in the Sugar Bowl in its 90-year history.
The Huskies will be making their second appearance in the CFP – they lost to Alabama in a Playoff Semifinal following the 2016 season, the third year of the CFP. The Longhorns are making their CFP debut this year.
While Washington is making its Sugar Bowl debut, becoming the 52nd school to participate in the game, Texas will be making its fifth appearance in the Sugar Bowl. The Longhorns have an all-time mark of 2-2 in the Sugar Bowl with wins in their first (Jan. 1, 1948, 27-7 over Alabama) and last appearances (Jan. 1, 2021, 28-21 over Georgia).
This year marked the most wins (13) in Washington football’s 107-year history. The Huskies have posted 15 10-win seasons. Texas, meanwhile, has recorded 25 seasons with 10 or more victories. The Longhorns’ victory record is also 13, set in its 2005 and 2009 BCS Championship seasons.
Washington will be making its 40th overall bowl appearance with an all-time record of 19-19-1. This will be the 59th bowl appearance for Texas; it has an all-time bowl mark of 31-25-2.
Both coaches, Kalin DeBoer from Washington and Steve Sarkisian for Texas, will be making their Sugar Bowl debuts as head coaches – they will become the 103rd and 104th coaches to lead teams into the Sugar Bowl.
Washington will be playing its first game in the Superdome and in New Orleans as well as just its fourth game overall in the state of Louisiana. The Huskies defeated Tulane in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl on Dec. 19, 1987, and lost a pair of games to LSU in Baton Rouge (1983 and 2012). Texas will be making its 18th trip to Louisiana – the Longhorns have a 10-6-1 record in the Pelican State with a 7-0-1 record in New Orleans against Tulane, a 1-4 mark against LSU in Baton Rouge and a 2-2 Sugar Bowl record. The Horns are 2-1 all-time in the Superdome (a win over Georgia and a loss to Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl and a 2002 win over Tulane).
{Courtesy: Allstate Sugar Bowl}
Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.