Winterhardiness is an important limitation to winter oat (Avena byzantina and A. sativa) production in much of North America, but field evaluation of winterhardiness is difficult. An intergenomic reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 7C and 17 has been associated with winter/spring growth habit in oat. Previous research has shown a relationship between this translocation and winterhardiness. The objective of this study was to examine the role of the 7C-17 translocation in the genetics of winterhardiness in oat, and provide breeders with additional selection methods for improving winterhardiness. A population of 135 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) derived from a cross between winter hardy ‘Norline' and winter tender ‘Fulghum' segregating for the translocation was used for the study. The RIL were scored for the translocation, and evaluated for field winterhardiness and the component traits of photoperiod and vernalization response, and freeze tolerance in a controlled freeze test. Both field winterhardiness and freeze tolerance were significantly correlated with the translocation (r=0.58 and 0.71, respectively), and with each other (r=0.73). Vernalization response demonstrated a significant negative correlation with the translocation (r= -0.23), but was not significantly correlated with field winterhardiness. Conversely, days to flowering for vernalized plants was significantly correlated with field winterhardiness (r=0.26), but not the translocation. These results illustrate the strong effect of the translocation on freeze tolerance and field winterhardiness, and suggest that freeze tolerance genes are not associated with vernalization genes in this population. Understanding the effect of the translocation on these traits should assist breeders in improving winterhardiness in oat by aiding in the selection of parental material, and improving selection methods.