This is the third installment of a continuing series ranking the football rivalries between the Texas Longhorns. After examining the Longhorns’ fifth-ranked rival in part two, we examine Texas’s fourth-ranked rival.
No. 4: Texas Tech Red Raiders
The sterling silver boot spurs that the chancellor of the rival university bestows upon the winner of this gauntlet are the source of the rivalry’s moniker. The Battle For The Chancellor’s Spurs has been held annually since the 1960 college football season; sadly, it will not occur in 2024.
It’s no secret that Texas Tech supporters and alumni, in general, detest Texas and relish the occasions when they get to defeat the Longhorns. Texas has had more formidable rivals, and while Longhorn supporters aren’t as happy when their team prevails in this rivalry as Red Raider supporters are, Texas supporters detest that their team has previously dropped games to Texas Tech in previous matchups against the Red Raiders.
This in-state rivalry will be put on hold as the Longhorns, now in the SEC, have not scheduled Texas Tech in their upcoming schedules. However, this rivalry is hoped to resurface because students from both schools are more emotional about it than the older generation of Longhorn fans and alums. However, nothing indicates that these two rivals are scheduled to play one another in non-conference play in the upcoming years.
Texas has won 15 of the first 16 games in this intrastate rivalry, which dates back to 1928. Texas has dominated this rivalry from the start, as evidenced by the Longhorns’ seven consecutive shutout victories over the Red Raiders. There were times when Texas Tech won three straight games from 74 to 76, then back-to-back games in 67 and 68.
This rivalry gained more traction in the 1980s after the Red Raiders emerged victorious against the Longhorns four times and performed admirably in their final meeting of that decade. Then, from 1993 to 1998, Texas Tech won four of the six games against Texas in the 1990s.
Similar to the beginning of the rivalry, the Longhorns have won 20 games in this in-state rivalry since 1999, compared to the Red Raiders’ five victories in that same time frame.
The distance between these two institutions of higher learning: Approximately 362 miles separates these two Texas schools.
The game between the two teams that stands out the most all-time: As devastating a loss as it was for Longhorns supporters and fans, the 2008 defeat when Texas was ranked #1 and Texas Tech #8 was the most memorable in this rivalry. Other notable games included the Longhorns’ overtime victory over the Red Raiders in 2020 and Texas’s road victory in Lubbock in 2012.
The name given to this Rivalry: Battle For The Chancellor’s Spurs
The record of both teams during the previous fifteen games they have played one another: Texas 12-3 and Texas Tech 3-12
The record of both teams during the previous ten games they have played one another: Texas 7-3 and Texas Tech 3-7
The record of both teams during the previous five games they have played one another: Texas 4-1 and Texas Tech 1-4
Their most recent game and the one they have scheduled to play next: The Longhorns defeated the Red Raiders at home by a final score of 57-7, dominating Texas Tech in their most recent meeting in this historic rivalry. Regretfully, there are no planned football games between these teams.
This rivalry will be missed more than both fan bases would like to admit publicly and out loud. This rivalry is one of the underrated rivalries in the Big 12 but is unlikely to continue now that Texas is in the SEC. The only realistic hope is that maybe in the next couple of years, these two teams met each other in a bowl game or even the college football playoffs.