The 1972 Sugar Bowl (January) was the 38th edition of the college football bowl game, played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday, January 1. It featured the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference and the #5 Auburn Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The favored Sooners won 40–22. This was the last Sugar Bowl played in January until 1977, as it moved to New Year's Eve night for the next four editions.