Red River Rivalry picked as a conference game that will decide the College Football Playoff

The Red River Rivalry could be a key game in the CFP landscape, according to 247Sports’ Josh Pate.

It’s been a long time since the [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] versus the Texas Longhorns had national implications. It’s still been one of the best rivalries in all of sports but it hasn’t meant a whole lot to the national landscape.

This year could be different. Texas has big expectations this season causing some to believe anything short of a conference championship is a failure of a season. Oklahoma has expectations because it’s year two under [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag].

Combine that with an, on paper, easy schedule and a complete roster turnover, those in [autotag]Sooner Nation[/autotag] are excited about the season. 247Sports‘ Josh Pate put out a list of five conference games that will decide the College Football Playoff, and the Red River Rivalry came in at No. 3.

If Texas wins this game especially convincingly like they did last year, Texas has kind of arrived and then you ask a ton of questions about OU. If Brent Venables can pull off this win though, we’re using arrival but we are talking about the Sooners instead. – Pate, Late Kick Show

Everything that Pate said is true. If Texas was to win this game convincingly, there will be many question marks about Oklahoma and the program’s direction. On the other hand, if Oklahoma pulls out a win, it would provide a lot of confidence about Oklahoma’s staying power.

It’s great for the sport and for the two programs for this game to have College Football Playoff significance. That’s how it should be. Each year, this game should be a factor in the conference title race and playoff contention. That’s what has made this game so special for so long.

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