| Game Name: | Alamo Bowl |
| Subheader: | 31st Alamo Bowl |
| Title Sponsor: | Valero |
| Date Game Played: | December 28 |
| Year Game Played: | 2023 |
| Football Season: | 2023 |
| Stadium: | Alamodome |
| City: | San Antonio, Texas |
| Visitor School: | University of Arizona |
| Visitor Name Short: | Arizona |
| Visitor Nickname: | Wildcats |
| Visitor Record: | 9–3 |
| Visitor Conference: | Pac-12 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 14 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 14 |
| Visitor Rank Cfp: | 14 |
| Visitor Coach: | Jedd Fisch |
| Visitor 1Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 8 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 17 |
| Home School: | University of Oklahoma |
| Home Name Short: | Oklahoma |
| Home Nickname: | Sooners |
| Home Record: | 10–2 |
| Home Conference: | Big 12 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 12 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 12 |
| Home Rank Cfp: | 12 |
| Home Coach: | Brent Venables |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 10 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Mvp: | Jacob Cowing (WR, Arizona) & Gunner Maldonado (S, Arizona)[1] |
| Odds: | Arizona by 2.5[2] |
| Referee: | David Smith (SEC)[3] |
| Attendance: | 55,853 |
| Us Network: | ESPN ESPN Radio |
| Us Announcers: | Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), and Cole Cubelic (sideline) (ESPN) Justin Kutcher (play-by-play), Max Starks (analyst), and Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline) (ESPN Radio) |
The 2023 Alamo Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2023, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The 31st annual Alamo Bowl featured the Oklahoma Sooners from the Big 12 Conference and the Arizona Wildcats from the Pac-12 Conference. The game began at approximately 8:15 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN.[4] [5] The Alamo Bowl was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The bowl was sponsored by Valero Energy and was officially known as the Valero Alamo Bowl.
The 2023 Alamo Bowl was the 6th highest attended bowl game in the 2023-24 bowl season, the highest among the non New Year’s Six bowls and beating the NY6 Fiesta Bowl (mainly due to Oregon being expected to blow out Liberty).
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured the Oklahoma Sooners from the Big 12 Conference and Arizona Wildcats from the Pac-12 Conference. This was the third meeting between the two teams; entering the game, the series was tied, 1–1. Arizona won their most recent prior matchup, in 1989.[6]
See main article: 2023 Arizona Wildcats football team. Arizona entered the bowl with a 9–3 record (7–2 in Pac-12), finishing third in their conference. The Wildcats opened the season with three losses in their first six gams, then won their final six games. They entered the bowl ranked 14th in both the AP poll and College Football Playoff rankings.
This was Arizona's second Alamo Bowl; the Wildcats previously lost the 2010 edition.
This was Arizona's final game as a member of the Pac-12, as the Wildcats committed to join the Big 12 for the 2024 season.
See main article: 2023 Oklahoma Sooners football team. Oklahoma entered the bowl with 10–2 record (7–2 in Big 12), finishing tied for second in their conference. The Sooners began the season looking to improve on their 2022 season (6-6) and make a return to their conference championship game. Starting the season by winning its slate of non-conference games, Oklahoma continued its success into conference games beating Cincinnati, Iowa State, Texas, and UCF before suffering consecutive loses to Kansas and Oklahoma State. Following those losses, Oklahoma beat West Virginia, BYU, and TCU to finish the season on a three-game winning streak. The loss to Oklahoma State resulted in Oklahoma not being selected to the 2023 Big 12 Championship Game. The Sooners entered the bowl ranked 12th in both the AP poll and College Football Playoff rankings.
This was Oklahoma's second Alamo Bowl; they previously won the 2021 edition.
This was Oklahoma's final game as a member of the Big 12, as the Sooners committed to move to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for the 2024 season.