On a schedule full of marquee games, none is bigger than the Oklahoma Sooners vs. the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Showdown.
Sure, Tennessee and Alabama are coming to town. Oklahoma goes on the road for potential top-15 matchups with Ole Miss and LSU. Despite the intriguing contests on the docket, it all comes back to the Cotton Bowl.
And isn’t that how it should be?
The most important game of any season is going to be your rivalry game. With Oklahoma handing Texas its lone regular-season loss, the Longhorns will be eager to settle the score. With all of the big games on OU’s schedule, it would be easy to go another direction, but The Oklahoman’s Ryan Aber pointed to OU-Texas as the Sooners most important game.
The take: Could it be anything different? OU-Texas is at the top of the importance list every season but this season it takes on an even greater importance. The Longhorns have the makings of a playoff contender and a top-flight quarterback in Quinn Ewers. The Sooners’ win over Texas last season was the highlight of their season. Best case for OU, it comes into this game undefeated and looking for a win to strengthen its bid for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Worst case, the Sooners might need a win here to stay afloat after a tough start to SEC play. Either way or anything in the middle, the Red River Rivalry is at the top of the list of important matchups for OU this season. – Aber, The Oklahoman
Aber ranked the games against the Vols and then at LSU to close the season just behind the Red River Showdown.
Oklahoma will play Texas after hosting Tennessee, going to Auburn and experiencing its first bye week of the season. The Sooners’ matchup with Texas could be a top 10 game by the time the two meet in the Cotton Bowl.
If Oklahoma struggles in its first two SEC games, it’ll make the performance against its most-hated rival all the more important.
It’s important every year, but in Year 1 of the SEC, it just means more.
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