SAN DIEGO — The University of Oregon and Oklahoma State have accepted invitations to play in the 31st annual Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 at Qualcomm Stadium.

It will mark the first time that these two schools have met on the gridiron.

Head Coach Mike Bellotti will bring his No. 16 ranked Oregon Ducks to San Diego with an overall record of 9-3, 7-2 in the Pac-10.

This will be Oregon's third appearance in the Holiday Bowl. They beat Texas, 35-30, in 2000 and were beaten by Oklahoma, 17-14, in 2005.

The 14th ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, coached by Mike Gundy, enter the bowl game also with a 9-3 overall record, 5-3 in the Big 12. The only Oklahoma State appearance in the Holiday Bowl came in 1988 with Gundy quarterbacking the Cowboys to a 62-14 rout of Wyoming.

Gundy, who is in the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame completed 24-of-24 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns in that 1988 game. The 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders also played for that Cowboys squad, rushing for 222 yards and five touchdowns.

Oregon was selected on basis of its runnerup position in the Pac-10. They finished tied with Oregon State for second place, but beat the Beavers in their head-to-head matchup.

Normally the third place finisher in the Big 12 goes to the Holiday Bowl, however, both Oklahoma and Texas were selected for BCS games and Texas Tech was picked by the Cotton Bowl, leaving Oklahoma State the next highest ranked team in the Big 12.

"There are similarities in the two teams," said Gundy. "They rush the football very well and statistically they are ahead of us in that area. I think they use multiple formations and have skilled players that make plays."

Oregon has averaged 41.9 points a game while Oklahoma State is at 41.6.

Oregon's offense is led by senior running back Jeremiah Johnson who finished the regular season with 1,082 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.

On the defensive side, senior defensive end Nick Reed led the conference with 13 sacks and five fumble recoveries. He also recorded 50 tackles.

Sophomore running back Kendall Hunter leads Oklahoma State rushing for a conference-best 1,518 yards on just 228 carries. He also tallied 14 touchdowns.

Defensively junior linebacker Orie Lemon had 52 solo takes and 84 total tackles.

Asked about a potential of a high scoring game, Bellotti said, "The game of football has changed and evolved and most people are spreading people out. Still both of these teams run the ball really well. But in the final analysis the team that plays the best defense in the game is going to win. We can talk about the offenses coming in but I have a feeling well be talking about the defenses going out."

Gundy will become the first person to both play in a Holiday Bowl game and be a head coach in one.