Here is Texas’s No. 2 rival in football
Oklahoma Sooners
The main reasons they are one of the Longhorn’s top rivals: There is little to no doubt among Longhorns fans that Oklahoma is a main rival of Texas. The Red River Rivalry is known nationwide and some may say it is in the top five of all rivals in college football. Though it has from time to time been played on the first Saturday of the month of October, the game has other than that, always taken place on the second Saturday of the month since the year 1934. The game has been played at Dallas’s Cotton Bowl inside Fair Park since 1932 and the tailgating that takes place before the games is top-level. The Golden Hat trophy, a gold ten-gallon hat that was originally made of bronze as some fans will point out, is awarded to the team that wins the regular-season matchup and does not change hands when they play one another like after the Big 12 championship game in 2018. Until the next regular scheduled game, the winning school’s athletic department keeps the trophy.
Oklahoma or Texas has entered the game against one another ranked 70 times and they have played one another since 1936, the year the AP Poll was established. This streak, which ended in 2022, included all 19 of the teams’ previous meetings between the Sooners and Longhorns. Hence why this rivalry has by some publications been viewed as a top three national rivalry.
Not many rivalry games are held on neutral fields as well which makes this rivalry more unique. Except for the Army–Navy and the Georgia–Florida games, most rivalry games are played on one of the opponent’s home fields. This rivalry is a classical, traditional, and a famous rivalry that many college football fans know about.
Why is Oklahoma not ranked as Texas’s No. 1 rival? Here is where the controversy comes in as many Longhorns fans publicly will say that Oklahoma is their main rival. Some will point out the notoriety of the rivalry and the prestige that comes with it, others will say that Oklahoma and Texas are such rivals that they will always be in the same conference, hence both moving from the Big 12 to the SEC. Both teams would prefer that they are undefeated when they play one another and the atmosphere of the game resembles more of a bowl game than a regular season game. However, like the Ohio State and Michigan rivalry and to a lesser extent the Georgia and Florida rivalry, there are reasons that Oklahoma is not the Longhorn’s number-one rival.
The first reason is the location of both universities as both schools are in different states and are approximately 368 miles away from one another and at minimum a five-hour and 45-minute drive, assuming you are not going over the speed limit. Co-workers and neighbors are less likely to be from the opposing fan base as compared to other co-workers who attended a university in their home state.
The second reason is the intensity of the rivalry. The best college football rivalries by a good portion of fans should be intense and can lead to some very strong emotional responses against rival teams. The word hate is thrown around in terms of feeling towards your rivalry. Whether both fan bases like to admit it or not, there is more respect than hatred between these two fanbases than each fanbase would like to admit publicly like Washington and Oregon fans.
The third reason is the true fan test. Would you rather have Oklahoma lose a game than let’s say Texas A&M on the football field this season? Would you rather be stuck at the top of a roller coaster for an hour with an Aggies fan or a Sooners fan? Would you rather work side by side and or live next door to an Oklahoma grad or a Texas A&M alum? Would you rather see the Sooners make the College Football Playoffs in 2024 or the Aggies? The questions go on and on and if the Longhorn fans are honest with themselves, they will say Oklahoma is their second rival. For example, if they were honest with themselves Florida fans would say Florida State is their number one rival, and Michigan fans would say Michigan State is their number one rival.
History between these two football programs: These two football programs first met on the field in 1900 as Texas won the first four games of this rivalry by a combined score of 73-18. Oklahoma after tying Texas in 1903, defeated the Longhorns for the first time in a very low-scoring game in 1905 by a final score of 2-0. The Sooners would then have a slight edge over the Longhorns from 1908 to 1919 winning seven of the eleven games that they played one another.
From 1922 to 1947, Texas dominated this rivalry winning 17 times, tying once, and only losing three times to Oklahoma over that two-decade period. The Sooners would respond from 1948 to 1957 and only lose one time to Texas during that stretch. The Longhorns would respond as well from 1958 to 1970 defeating the Sooners 12 times and only losing one game to Oklahoma during that period.
Each team would then go on brief undefeated runs with strings of consecutive victories like Oklahoma from 71-75, 85-88, and 2000-04 and like Texas from 79-81, 89-92, and 97-99. However, from 2010 to the present time, Oklahoma has won 11 out of 15 games and as regained control of this rivalry on the football field.
Distance from each school: Over 368 miles separate these two schools as the University of Oklahoma is north and slightly east of the University of Texas at Austin.
In the last game, they played one another, and in their next scheduled game: It was indeed a classic game, as Oklahoma won in a thrilling back-and-forth, high-scoring game to give the Longhorns their only regular season loss. As mentioned before, both teams left the Big 12 conference to join the SEC and they will play one another on October 12th as their rivalry continues.