Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma Has 53 Percent Chance of Defeating Auburn

There are plenty of enticing matchups this bowl season, especially in the elite bowls. The Oklahoma-Auburn showdown in the Sugar Bowl could be one of the best of the lot.

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, which reports to be a measure of team strength as a predictor of performance going forward, Oklahoma ranks seventh and the Sooners’ Sugar Bowl opponent, Auburn, is at No. 11 in the land this season.

The FPI also projects favorites in the 2016 bowl season. This postseason appears to be one of the most closely contested in nearly a decade. There are at least seven postseason bowl games the rest of this month and into the New Year in which the team picked to win by the FPI is favored by a single point.

The four non-College Football Playoff games that are part of this year’s New Year’s Six bowls, including OU-Auburn in the Sugar Bowl, are all projected to be decided by five or fewer points, according to the FPI.

The current point spread for the Sugar Bowl is Oklahoma minus four. FPI gives the Sooners a 53.4 chance of winning the game.

Five other Big 12 teams are participating in bowls this postseason. We will preview all of them in the coming days.

Here are the other Big 12 bowl matchups and how the FPI projects the outcome:

Dec. 27 – Cactus Bowl, Phoenix – Baylor vs. Boise State (Boise State, 58.6 percent chance to win)

Dec. 28 – Russell Athletic Bowl, Orlando – West Virginia vs. Miami (Miami, a 56.0 chance to win)

Dec. 28 – Texas Bowl, Houston – Kansas State vs. Texas A&M (Texas A&M, a 62.8 percent chance to win)

Dec. 29 – Alamo Bowl, San Antonio – Oklahoma State vs. Colorado (Colorado, a 50.9 percent chance to win)

Dec. 30 – Liberty Bowl – TCU vs. Georgia (TCU, 56.0 percent chance to win)