The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will meet for the second Red River Showdown of 2018, this time to decide the Big 12 Championship from AT&T Stadium.
The regular season rendition of the Red River Rivalry between the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns was magical. Though the latter jumped out to a big lead, Kyler Murray and Co. fought back valiantly to almost usurp their rivals, but fell short. Lucky for everyone, that’s not the only time these two teams will meet, however, as they ready to face off again, this time in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
Losing to Texas is the only time this season that this Oklahoma team has suffered defeat. Murray and the rest of Lincoln Riley’s team has proven to be absolute explosive on the offensive side of the ball, from weapons outside like Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and CeeDee Lamb to newfound weapons like Kennedy Brooks.
Sure, the Sooners defense has been lackluster as of late, having allowed at least 40 points in each of their final four regular season games. However, Murray and the OU offense have been both clutch enough and dynamic enough for that not to matter. Thus, that’s what you can likely expect from this team in the rematch with Tom Herman’s team.
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As for those Longhorns, they’ve actually played decidedly worst since their rivalry win. Texas has suffered two losses since that point, and the offense led by Sam Ehlinger has taken a big step back. Granted, there’s no better medicine for an offense than playing the sieve that is the Sooners on defense right now, but the Longhorns still have to go out and prove they can for that to matter.
Moreover, Texas is also facing the daunting task of winning a rivalry game twice in one year. Though it was thrilling and the Longhorns showed a ton of moxie in the first meeting, it’s going to be near impossible to replicate the same gampeplan. As such, it’ll be interesting to see if Herman can change it up enough in the Big 12 Championship Game to get another win.
TV and Live Stream info, Betting Odds (via Odds Shark)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018
Start Time: Noon ET
Location: Arlington, TX
Stadium: AT&T Stadium
TV Info: ABC
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Point Spread: Sooners – 8
Moneyline: Sooners -310, Longhorns +280
Over/Under: 78
It truly is a treat to college football fans that the Big 12 Championship Game is providing us with another clash between Texas and Oklahoma. The first meeting between the two was certainly one for the books, and this one should be more of the same. But, in the end, it should be the Sooners who come out on top. They’re simply better and, more importantly, are playing better right now.
Predicted Final Score: Texas Longhorns 42, Oklahoma Sooners 54