After an extended break that saw numerous top teams lose to outmatched opponents, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns head to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas to take on the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners in the annual Red River Rivalry on Saturday.
The Longhorns are considered heavy favorites in the matchup, with most models giving the Longhorns a two-score cushion in the contest. But if there’s one rivalry game in which none of that matters, it’s the annual scrap at the State Fair of Texas. Of the last 10 iterations of the rivalry, excluding the bonus matchup in the conference title game, just one game has boasted a margin larger than two scores — the Texas blowout in 2022 when Oklahoma couldn’t field a healthy, competent quarterback.