Sugar Bowl 2016: Known Info Before Final Playoff Rankings Reveal

The Sugar Bowl last year showed why the College Football Playoff exists.

The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Alabama Crimson Tide, 42-35, and earned a spot in the CFP National Championship game. Ohio State, who was the No. 4 seed, toppled the supposed best team in the country on that day.

This year's Sugar Bowl won't provide as much intrigue as last year. Listed as one of the four Selection Committee Bowls this year, a team from the Big 12 will meet a team from the SEC in New Orleans on Jan. 1. 

Here's what we know about the Sugar Bowl at the current moment.

2016 Allstate Sugar Bowl

When: Jan. 1, 2016

Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Matchup: Big 12 vs. SEC

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: Watch ESPN

Who Will Play in the Sugar Bowl?

The Big 12 spot normally goes to the winner of the conference, but as the case of the Oklahoma Sooners locking up a spot in the College Football Playoff, that distinction goes to the runner-up.

The runner-ups in the Big 12 are the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who hold the tiebreaker over the TCU Horned Frogs thanks to the Cowboys beating TCU earlier this year.

Should the CFP committee drastically take Oklahoma out of the Final Four, for whatever reason, then the Sooners will be the Big 12 representatives. That's highly unlikely, but the factor of Oklahoma not playing in an actual conference title game could be brought into question.

Had the Baylor Bears taken care of business against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, it'd be the Bears in this position, seeing how they hold the head-to-head advantage over Oklahoma State. Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel felt the team that didn't play Saturday won the most:

NFL.com's Gil Brandt said that Baylor's loss to Texas dropped them very far from the bowl ranks:

But despite the Cowboys ending the year with two bad losses to Baylor and Oklahoma, the win over TCU gave the Cowboys the head-to-head advantage. 

In regards to the SEC representative, that appears to be the Ole Miss Rebels. 

Had the Florida Gators upset the Alabama Crimson Tide, it would've created chaos. Florida would've taken the SEC's spot in the Sugar Bowl, Alabama would've been given an At-Large bid with the Rebels playing in the Liberty Bowl.

The SEC gets its College Football Playoff rep, and the only team to beat Alabama this year will be playing in New Orleans. Ole Miss is 5-3 in eight lifetime appearances in the Sugar Bowl, according to Daniel Paulling of the Clarion-Ledger. 

An official announcement is expected on Sunday.

Ole Miss-Oklahoma State Early Preview

Brody Schmidt/Associated Press

It's been an eternity since the last time either one of these two teams played in the Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss hasn't been to New Orleans since 1969, whereas Oklahoma State hasn't been to a Sugar Bowl since the end of World War II: 1945.

Having said all of that, this matchup will be an offensive explosion. Oklahoma State and Ole Miss finished eighth and 10th, respectively, in points per game, both averaging at least 40 points per game. At the forefront of this offensive matchup are two really talented receivers: Ole Miss' Laquon Treadwell and Oklahoma State's James Washington.

Treadwell recorded his first 1,000-yard season this year to go along with eight touchdowns. Should the junior receiver enter the NFL draft, Treadwell may be the first receiver taken next year, according to CBS Sports. Whichever team gets Treadwell, they're getting a really good prospect, per 105.3 The Fan's Jeff Cavanaugh:

"

If you've watched Dez Bryant play then you know Laquon Treadwell. Carbon copy of Dez in college.

— Jeff Cavanaugh (@JC1053) December 2, 2015"

For Oklahoma State, James Washington is its star receiver. Also recording 1,000 yards on the year, Washington added a career-high 10 touchdowns to his already-career year.

He still has another year before going pro, but Washington is setting himself up for a big year in 2016, according to ESPN.com's Jake Trotter:

Whichever one of these two can have the bigger game, their team will win. Ole Miss comes off as the far-and-away favorite to win, but there's still a little less than a month to change minds.