2014 Sugar Bowl

2014 Allstate Sugar Bowl
BCS Bowl Game
80th Sugar Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners Alabama Crimson Tide
(10–2) (11–1)
Big 12 SEC
45 31
Head coach: 
Bob Stoops		 Head coach: 
Nick Saban
APCoachesBCS
101111
APCoachesBCS
333
1234 Total
Oklahoma 1417014 45
Alabama 10777 31
DateJanuary 2, 2014
Season2013
StadiumMercedes-Benz Superdome
LocationNew Orleans, Louisiana
MVPTrevor Knight (QB – Oklahoma)
FavoriteAlabama by 17½[1]
National anthemBryan Batt
RefereeBrad Allen (ACC)
Halftime showBands from participants
Attendance70,473[2]
PayoutUS$17,000,000 per team[3]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN, ESPN Deportes
AnnouncersESPN:
Nielsen ratings9.3 (16.3M viewers)
Sugar Bowl
 < 2013  2015 > 

The 2014 Sugar Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Thursday, January 2, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 80th annual Sugar Bowl, it featured the #10 (AP ranked), #11 (BCS ranked) Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 Conference and the #3-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference. The game was broadcast live on ESPN at 8:30 PM EST. It was one of the 2013–14 bowl games that concluded the 2013 FBS football season. It was sponsored by the Allstate insurance company and was officially known as the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Oklahoma was selected to participate in the Sugar Bowl after a 10–2 season that culminated in a 33–24 victory over Oklahoma State. Alabama was selected as the other half of the matchup after an 11–1 season that ended in a 34–28 loss to Auburn.

Oklahoma defeated Alabama 45–31, in the process overcoming the largest spread in BCS history; Alabama had been a 17½-point favorite. The previous record of 16½ points was overcome just the day before in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl, won by the UCF Knights 52–42 over the Baylor Bears.[4] Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight, who completed 32 of 44 passes for 4 touchdowns and 348 yards, was named the game's most valuable player.[5]

  1. ^ Bowl Schedule, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2013
  2. ^ Allstate Sugar Bowl Box Score, ESPN.com, January 3, 2014
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference info was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Sooners score big upset in Sugar Bowl. January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference MVP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).