Red River Showdown to continue with move to SEC
Texas and Oklahoma will continue to play every year in the Red River Showdown no matter what schedule configuration the SEC chooses when the schools leave the Big 12.
“Regardless of the format of eight or nine conference-game schedules, we will always play Texas,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione told the Austin American-Statesman. “If the SEC sticks with its current model of just eight league games, the format will be one permanent rival (OU-Texas) and seven rotating teams.”
Texas A&M wants to resume its rivalry with Texas once the Longhorns switch conferences, but that could depend on what format the SEC opts with for scheduling.
The SEC is looking at two options: an eight-game conference schedule that would have just one annual rival or a ninegame schedule with three annual rivals.
“In an eight-game (SEC) model, Texas wants to keep Oklahoma and Oklahoma wants to keep Texas,” A&M athletic director Ross Bjork told the Chronicle recently. “So if you have only one ‘permanent’ rival, that leaves us with LSU. We’re fine with LSU, but we want to play Texas (as well) and we want a third permanent rival. That gets you to the ninegame model.”
The nine-game setup, which A&M fully backs, features three annual opponents and 12 league foes rotating in two groups of six. It adds an extra SEC game every year, which some don’t care for because it makes schedules a bit more rugged in most cases.
“Auburn will (always) play Alabama; Georgia is going to play Florida,” Bjork said of what’s expected every year in SEC play. “The nine-game model gives you Texas A&M versus Texas.”
Texas and Oklahoma are set to leave the Big 12 and begin play in the SEC in 2025. The Big 12 is adding four schools, including Houston, for the 2023 season as it prepares for the exits of the Longhorns and Sooners.