The Tigers beat the Cowboys by a score of 41–31 to claim the school's second-ever Cotton Bowl Classic championship and set a new AT&T Stadium record with 24 points in the fourth quarter. This was the final Cotton Bowl Classic in the BCS Era, as the College Football Playoff was introduced to start the next season.
Teams
This was Missouri's third appearance in the Cotton Bowl Classic (their first as a member of the SEC) and Oklahoma State's fourth appearance. Missouri and Oklahoma State were previously conference rivals in the Big 12. In addition, the two teams shared a conference from 1925 to 1928 (when the conference was called the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association and would become the Missouri Valley Conference after that year) and again from 1958 to 2012 (still under the MVIAA name until 1964, then under the name Big Eight Conference from 1964 to 1996).
The Missouri Tigers were coached by Gary Pinkel. Missouri won the SEC Eastern Division but lost to Auburn in the 2013 SEC Championship Game 59–42. Auburn and Alabama took the conference's two BCS bids over Missouri.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys were coached by Mike Gundy. Oklahoma State led the Big 12 Conference going into the final week of the season, but lost to Oklahoma 33–24 on December 7. Baylor won later that day to clinch the conference's BCS bid.
There was a Cotton Bowl Classic in January and December in 1966, 2015, 2017, 2023, 2025.
The 2015 (December), 2018, 2021, and 2025 (January) editions were College Football Playoff semifinals.