Oklahoma visits Tulsa for first time since 2014

TULSA, Okla. –– Seven bowl teams, including two schools that finished among the nation’s top-10 a year ago, highlight Tulsa’s 2023 football schedule, it was announced today. The six-game home schedule features a September non-conference matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners.

In addition to Oklahoma, Tulsa’s opponents that made bowl appearances a year ago include the PAC-12s Washington Huskies, as well as five American Athletic Conference teams – Rice, SMU, Tulane, North Texas and East Carolina. Washington ended the season ranked No. 8 nationally, while Tulane finished one spot behind the Huskies at No. 9 in the final Associated Press poll.

“I look forward to getting on the field this spring to begin preparations for the upcoming season,” said Tulsa’s first-year head coach Kevin Wilson. “I’m excited for our schedule and the fact that we’re able to start the season at home. We’ll also have Oklahoma and four strong conference opponents coming to Chapman Stadium.”

Tulsa’s home schedule features the Sooners in the second home game of the season and also includes AAC contests against a familiar conference foe Temple and new members Rice, Charlotte and North Texas.

Season tickets for the six-game schedule are on sale now for as low as $95. Fans can purchase tickets online at TulsaHurricane.com/tickets or by calling 918.631.4688.

The road schedule takes the Hurricane to both sides of the country. Tulsa travels 1,996 miles west to begin its road slate in Seattle, Washington and 1,235 miles east to end the regular season in Greenville, N.C., and in between has another east coast jaunt that covers 1,402 miles to Boca Raton, Fla.

Tulsa opens the Kevin Wilson era at Chapman Stadium in a first-time meeting against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, Sept. 2.

A trip to the Pacific Northwest follows as the Hurricane will visit the Washington Huskies on Sept. 9. The Huskies are coming off an 11-2 season and a victory over the Texas Longhorns in the Valero Alamo Bowl. The meeting with the Huskies is also a first-time encounter between the two teams.

Tulsa returns home for a Sept. 16 matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners. It will be the 29th meeting between the two schools and first since 2015 and the 11th time the Sooners have played in Tulsa.

The Sooners have been ranked among the nation’s top-20 in 13 of the previous 28 matchups and a No. 1 ranking three times with two of those games (1987, 2002) being played in Tulsa

Oklahoma last played at Chapman Stadium in the 2014 season. The Sooners are coming off a 6-7 season after closing the 2022 campaign with a narrow 35-32 loss to Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl.

A week later, Tulsa closes out the non-conference schedule with a road trip to face Northern Illinois on Sept. 23. Tulsa returns the Huskies trip to Tulsa from a year ago in which the Hurricane garnered a 38-35 victory at Chapman Stadium.

In the new-look American Athletic Conference, the Hurricane will face four new members – Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas and Rice – as well as four returning members – East Carolina, SMU, Temple and Tulane.

Tulsa’s first three league games come against school’s nicknamed the Owls – Temple, Florida Atlantic and Rice.

Tulsa kicks off The American schedule at home this season on a Thursday night as the Temple Owls visit T-Town on Sept. 28. It’s the eighth meeting between the two schools as Tulsa leads the series 4-3 following last year’s 27-16 win in Philadelphia.

Tulsa visits Florida Atlantic for the second time in just the third meeting between the two schools. FAU won the first contest in Boca Raton in 2014, while Tulsa claimed a 47-44 victory in the 2015 season opener over the Owls.

The open date comes right in the middle of the 12-game Hurricane schedule on the weekend of Oct. 14.

The Hurricane will play its second Thursday night home game when the Rice Owls come to Chapman Stadium on Oct. 19. Tulsa and Rice will face-off for the 20th time and as members of a third different league. The two schools were previously members together in the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.

Tulsa leads the series 10-8-1, having won six of the last seven meetings with the Owls. The last matchup between Tulsa and Rice came in the 2013 season as members of Conference USA. Rice concluded the 2022 season in the Lending Tree Bowl.

A road trip to Dallas will pit the Hurricane against SMU on Saturday, Oct. 28. The Mustangs, who finished the 2022 season in the New Mexico Bowl, lead the overall series 16-13.

Tulsa opens the month of November against first-time opponent Charlotte on Nov. 4. The two programs have quite the contrast. Tulsa enters its 127th season of football in 2023 and Charlotte will be in just its’ 11th year since starting the program in 2013.

The final three regular season games for the Hurricane comes against three bowl teams, including two teams that also made conference title games, Tulane and North Texas.

Tulane will be the first of those final three opponents when the Hurricane travels to New Orleans for the Nov. 11 matchup.

A year ago, the Green Wave marched to a 12-2 overall record and American Athletic Conference Championship, while finishing the season with a win over USC in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. The Green Wave, ranked 19th at the time, pulled out a 27-13 win in Tulsa last November, while a year earlier the Hurricane claimed a 20-13 win in New Orleans.

Tulsa closes the home season against another new league foe, but the two teams have a long history. The Hurricane hosts North Texas on Nov. 18 in the 26th meeting between the two teams. Tulsa and North Texas first met in 1944 and last played in the 2013 season. Previously, the two schools have faced each other as members of the Missouri Valley Conference and Conference USA.

UNT played in the Conference USA Championship game last year and closed the season in the Frisco Bowl.

The regular season finale has the Hurricane traveling to the east coast to face the East Carolina Pirates the weekend of Nov. 25, either on Friday or Saturday. ECU finished the 2022 season with an 8-5 record and a win in the Ticket Smarter Birmingham Bowl

Two AAC games will be selected for Black Friday (Nov. 24) among a group of four games in the final week of the regular season. The Black Friday selections will come from Tulsa-East Carolina, Memphis-Temple, UAB-North Texas and UTSA-Tulane. Those selections will be made by Oct. 9.

Game times and television will also be announced at a later date. Kickoff times and television designations for the first three weeks of the season, as well as the weeknight games, will be finalized by June 1. The rest of the schedule will fall under the customary 12-day and six-day selection processes.