| 2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 76th Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 6, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cowboys Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Arlington, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Offensive: Tyler Wilson (QB, Arkansas) Defensive: Jake Bequette (DE, Arkansas) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Arkansas by 7[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | The Band Perry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | John O’Neill (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Arkansas Razorback Marching Band, KSU Marching Band | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 80,956 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$6.75 million per team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | FOX | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Gus Johnson (Play-by-Play) Charles Davis (Analyst) Tim Brewster and Daryl Johnston (Sidelines) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 4.95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the 76th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 6, 2012 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season.
The game, which was telecast at 7:00 p.m. CT on FOX, featured the Kansas State Wildcats from the Big XII Conference versus the Arkansas Razorbacks from the SEC Conference.[2] Arkansas won the game 29–16, which was their first win over Kansas State since 1967.
This was only the second time in the BCS era that a non-BCS bowl had two teams with higher BCS rankings playing than teams in a BCS bowl (the first being the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl). The 2012 Sugar Bowl, and 2012 Orange Bowl had teams with lower BCS rankings squaring off.[3]