Bob Stoops retires at Oklahoma: 5 reasons Texas will own the rivalry

With legendary Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops retiring, the Texas Longhorns have a chance to take over the rivalry.

The college football ranks saw the end of a legendary era come to an end on Wednesday. Bob Stoops announced he was retiring as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and it left everyone stunned that he was leaving.

Despite his sudden departure, the team had an heir apparent in place ready to go. Lincoln Riley has been groomed for this spot for some time now and he will finally get his opportunity to lead the team to prominence.

Still, the Big 12 is in need of a team to be that consistent power every year and the departure of Stoops could help lead to the rise of the Texas Longhorns. The bitter rival of Oklahoma looks primed to make strides and both of these teams should be fighting it out for a playoff spot soon enough. Here’s why could Texas could own the rivalry for right now.

5. Oklahoma will have a natural transition period

Whenever a legendary coach steps down, there’s going to be an adjustment period. This move was rather sudden and with the season not far off, it’s going to take the Sooners some time to get in a rhythm without Stoops on the sideline.

It shouldn’t be as difficult with Riley in the fold, but he’s still getting his feet wet and will have plenty of learning experiences just like Stoops had when he took over. Also it should be noted that the Sooners lost of lot of firepower on offense to the NFL Draft.

Joe Mixon, Samaje Perine and Dede Westbrook are now gone from an Oklahoma offense that will have to reshuffle the deck around Baker Mayfield. The Heisman candidate is going to quickly have to find a cadence with his new weapons. This could open the door for a Texas win in the Cotton Bowl in October, as the team adjusts to a new era of football.