By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent

Within minutes of having its season end a victory short of bowl eligibility, Oklahoma State rallied for an improbable Bedlam victory over Oklahoma and now finds itself facing Washington in the Cactus Bowl.

The Cowboys have an opportunity to finish a roller coaster season with a victory. An inexperienced team opened the season by pushing defending national champion Florida State into the final minutes before losing. Oklahoma State won its next five but then went through a five-game losing streak before stunning the Sooners.

"We had a tough season," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "The majority of the team we have out here won a lot of football games over the last five or six years. We went through a stretch where we were outmatched at times, and it was difficult for our team.

"But to come back and win on the road at Oklahoma, being down by 14 points in the fourth quarter, it lit a fire under these guys, and we've had really good practices since then."

Oklahoma State is on its third quarterback. Freshman Mason Rudolph has started the last two games after J.W. Walsh and Daxx Garman were sidelined with injuries. The Cowboys' offense has rallied behind Rudolph's competitive nature and he went 19 of 35 for 273 yards and two touchdowns against OU.

"He wants to be the guy to make that play," Gundy said of Rudolph.

Protecting Rudolph will be a major challenge. The Cowboys' offensive line has been a work in progress all season and has allowed 37 sacks. Washington's defense, which features three first-team All-Americans, leads the nation in defensive touchdowns with seven, is third in sacks averaging 3.77 a game, and is fifth in fumbles recovered with 15.

"Washington is a good football team," Gundy said. "They've lost to five good teams, good opponents. They are very well coached ... Defensively, they've got a couple players that are very, very highly regarded. They can run, tackle, can blitz, can make some plays."

The Cowboys have a history of winning in the Phoenix area, going 3-0 in the Valley including a victory over Stanford in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl.

"I don't know what it is," Gundy said about his teams' success in the Valley. "I think we like the weather. I think bowl games are about the team, and how important it is to them. We've had nine good practices, the very best we've had this season. They can enjoy themselves, but they know during those two-hour practices, they have to be focused and take it seriously."

Oklahoma State got a last-minute punt return for a touchdown from Tyreek Hill to force overtime against Oklahoma. Hill was dismissed from the team about a week after the game for allegedly punching and choking his pregnant girlfriend.

"You come off of a certain feeling (winning Bedlam) and you have an incident like this, and it just makes it extremely difficult," Gundy said. "The energy level we got from that game has not been diminished, but it was just a shot in the gut for all of us. It's hard on the players now."

Oklahoma State vs. Washington
Need to know: 9:15 p.m., Friday, Jan. 2, Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.
Records: Oklahoma State 6-6, Washington 8-5

Scouting Oklahoma State: The Cowboys will be without Tyreek Hill, the hero of bedlam. He was dismissed after a domestic violence incident. Hill's game-breaking potential will be missed. Freshman Mason Rudolph has energized the offense but the Oklahoma State offensive line has had trouble protecting the quarterback. The defense is led by Emmanuel Ogbah, voted by the coaches at the Big 12's defensive lineman of the year.

Scouting Washington: The Huskies, under first-year coach Chris Petersen, have relied on a salty defense. Washington has 49 sacks, 27 forced turnovers and nine defensive/return touchdowns. Sophomore Dwayne Washington has become the team's top running back, gaining at least 100 yards in the last three games. Sophomore quarterback Cyler Miles has started all 11 games in which he's played this season, throwing for 16 touchdowns.

This and that: The Big 12 has won six of the last eight games played in Tempe and the league is also 8-3 against the Pac-12 over the last five seasons. … Washington's Shaq Thompson is a two-way player. In addition to playing linebacker, he rushed for 456 yards and two touchdowns as a tailback. … All five of the Huskies' losses came to ranked teams, with three losses coming by 14 or more points.