Whether by rule or partially by chance, the Cotton Bowl, at least over the last few years, has drawn the two best teams not selected for a BCS Bowl. Last year, it was #10 Texas A&M vs. #12 Oklahoma; before that it was #7 Arkansas and #11 Kansas State; and before that it was #11 LSU and #18 Texas A&M (all rankings were before the bowl game). We have another game in that range this year with #8 Missouri (11-2) and #13 Oklahoma State (10-2) tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST on FOX.

Both teams playing tonight had a chance at greater glory. Missouri even had the inside position for the national championship, but lost to Auburn in the SEC championship. Oklahoma State did the same in a season-ending loss to Oklahoma.

Still, a win tonight would put either team in a good spot for the year's final rankings, however relevant those actually are. Considering #5 Stanford, #6 Baylor, and #3 Alabama have all lost and either #7 Ohio State or #12 Clemson (likely Clemson) will lose tonight, Missouri has the chance to move all the way up to three (behind Michigan State) should they win convincingly enough and Florida State wins the national championship (also probably in convincing fashion, for Auburn would have two losses). Oklahoma's best case final scenario isn't as promising and probably caps at #9. Besides Missouri, they'll have the chance to jump the loser of Ohio State-Clemson and possibly even Stanford and Baylor.

Bowl games like this can be so difficult to predict I'm not even going to take a stab at it. The two teams have a history playing each other in the Big-12 before the Tigers left, so speculators could possibily draw on that.

"I don't know if it seems weird (playing Missouri)," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy told ESPN. "We are still familiar with them. We played them so many years in a row and have watched them play. They're very similar to the way they were."

For live stream, try FOX sports online.