Oklahoma basketball: Red River is not just a football rivalry anymore

With Porter Moser becoming the next head coach of the Oklahoma basketball program, the Sooners rivalry with the Texas Longhorns has undeniably intensified.

By hiring Porter Moser, the Oklahoma basketball program has a head coach who can more than hold his own vs. new Texas basketball coach Chris Beard in Big 12 play.

When we think of the Red River Showdown, it is all about the Longhorns and the Sooners clashing at the Cotton Bowl during the State of Texas Fair in early October. These are the two cornerstone programs when it comes to Big 12 football. But with Moser leaving Loyola for OU and Texas able to rip Chris Beard away from conference rival Texas Tech, it is not just a football rivalry anymore.

Porter Moser and Chris Beard will have epic battles in Red River on the hardwood

With Shaka Smart leaving Austin for Marquette after getting embarrassed by Abilene Christian and Lon Kruger retiring after his successful run in Norman, Texas and Oklahoma were tasked with replacing two coaches who have previously led teams to Final Fours before. Kruger did it twice in his career, once at Florida and once at Oklahoma. Smart was able to do it when he was with VCU.

Even though programs like Baylor, Kansas and even West Virginia are very strong in the Big 12 currently, for Texas and Oklahoma to get high-quality coaches like Beard and Moser signifies how important college basketball is to these traditional football schools. Beard and Moser led their previous schools to Final Fours once in the last three seasons. This is now big Big 12 hoops time.

Because Oklahoma and Texas made high-profile hires like this in the same week, Moser and Beard will always be connected for as long as they are in Norman or Austin, respectively. While Beard knows the Big 12 well from his time in Lubbock, this is untrodden territory for Moser, but Oklahoma is a job where he can continue to win big, as long as he is able to recruit his kind of guys.

So while Beard and Moser will have to battle with the likes of Scott Drew, Bob Huggins and Bill Self’s lifetime contract in Big 12 play, their hirings have given some serious bite to the middle of the pack. There may only be 10 teams in the league, but man, there are some outstanding coaches who now call the Big 12 home. Beard and Moser’s moves are nothing to take lightly. They are big.

Here is to Beard and Moser making Oklahoma vs. Texas all the rage on the college hardwood.

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