FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- For the second time in three seasons, Arkansas will play in the Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

The 7-4 Razorbacks will face a 10-2 Oklahoma team from the Big 12 Conference. Arkansas is unranked but Oklahoma is 10th in the latest Associated Press poll.

The Cotton Bowl slot opened up with Saturday's 31-20 victory by LSU over Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

Had Tennessee won and earned a berth in the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Miami for the Bowl Championship Series national title, Arkansas would probably have played in the Dec. 27 Independence Bowl, against Iowa State.

But even after LSU's victory, a Cotton Bowl berth for Arkansas was not a certainty until late afternoon Sunday. Georgia (8-3) and Mississippi (7-4) were also possibilities for the Cotton Bowl, but the Bulldogs will play instead in the Music City Bowl at Nashville, Tenn., and Mississippi was the only SEC bowl-eligible team that didn't get a bowl bid.

"I'm thrilled to be telling the players that we're going to be going to Dallas, the Cotton Bowl," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt told a news conference. "I think everybody thought we were going to the Independence Bowl, to Shreveport -- I did, too."

He said the choice of Arkansas by the Cotton Bowl's selection committee was "a credit to the fans, the players -- this program."

Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said the school got invitations from both the Cotton Bowl and the Independence Bowl. He said the turnaround from a 1-3 start to a 7-4 finish probably played a role in Cotton Bowl officials' decision to invite the Razorbacks.

"The way this team played was the indication that they would be a great bowl team," Broyles said. "And I think whatever influence there was on the (Cotton Bowl selection) committee to select us over the other teams came down to how this team played. All the credit goes to the team and how they turned the year around."

Nutt echoed that sentiment, telling his players who attended the news cconference: "It's about how you finished. You played with a lot of heart and enthusiasm. They didn't have to pick us, so let's make the most of it."

Razorback offensive lineman Shannon Money was enthusiastic about the Cotton Bowl bid.

"Our fans love going to Dallas and watching us play there," Money said. "To be able to play a team like Oklahoma is why you play college football."

Arkansas has played the Sooners twice before in bowl games. One of the most storied bowl victories in Arkansas history came when the Razorbacks defeated Oklahoma in the 1978 Orange Bowl, 31-6. At the time Oklahoma was ranked second in the nation.

The teams met again in the 1987 Orange Bowl and the Sooners crushed Arkansas 42-8.

On Jan. 1, 2000, Arkansas finished its 1999 season in the Cotton Bowl, topping Texas 27-6.

The game will be the third Jan. 1 bowl contest for Nutt's teams in four years. The Razorbacks played in the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day 1999, going down 45-31 to Michigan.

It will be Arkansas' 10th appearance in the Cotton Bowl, which for years was the goal of Razorback teams when they played in the Southwestern Conference and that league's champion got a berth in the Jan. 1 game at Dallas.

Arkansas is 3-5-1 in its previous nine trips to the Cotton Bowl. Prior to the 2000 victory over Texas, the Razorbacks' wins in the Cotton Bowl came in 1965 and 1976. The 1965 defeat of Nebraska capped a perfect season and gave Arkansas its only national football championship.

It will be the Razorbacks' 32nd bowl game. Arkansas is 10-18-3 in bowl appearances overall.

Against Oklahoma, the Razorbacks are 4-9-1. Until the two Orange Bowl games in recent decades, Arkansas hadn't played Oklahoma since 1926, when the Sooners topped the Razorbacks 13-6 in a game played at Norman, Okla.

"I'm excited about playing Arkansas because they're a good team from a good conference," Oklahoma receiver Josh Norman said. "We always hear arguments as to what conference is better, the SEC or the Big 12, so this will give us a good chance to represent Oklahoma and the Big 12."