Red River Shootout Or Iron Bowl: Texas And Oklahoma Bringing Nation's Best Rivalry To SEC?

DALLAS - These dang newbies from Texas and Oklahoma haven't even played a game in the Southeastern Conference yet, and they think they already have the best rivalry in the league and country.

The Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn is seen as the nation's best, or one of them, because it is an in-state game matching brother vs. brother in a state with no major professional sports. But Texas coach Steve Sarkisian gave the crown to the Red River Shootout between SEC yearlings Texas and Oklahoma Wednesday at the SEC Media Days here.

The next Red River Rivalry meeting and first under the SEC umbrella will be Saturday, Oct. 12, (3:30 p.m., ABC or ESPN) at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Alabama (left) and Auburn have met in football every year since 1948 and 88 times in all since 1893, and they played every game from 1948-88 at the neutral site of Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. (Getty Images)

"I’ve been part of the Iron Bowl," Sarkisian said in his first SEC Media Days at the Omni Hotel downtown. Sarkisian previously was Alabama's offensive coordinator under coach Nick Saban in 2019 and '20.

"I’ve been part of the Apple Cup in Washington. I've been part of SC-UCLA," he said as he coached the Washington Huskies from 2009-13 and USC in 2014 and '15. "I’ve been part of some great games. The Red River Rivalry is the most unique game for sure that I’ve ever been a part of."

Rookie mistake? Inexperienced exuberance? Well, he did make some excellent points.

Texas-Oklahoma Rivalry Remains In Dallas During State Fair Every October

The Red River Shootout is not an in-state game, but it's very close to it. Texas, located in Austin, is 197 miles straight south of Dallas. Oklahoma, located in Norman, is 190 miles straight north of Dallas. The Red River separates the two states.

And the Red River Rivalry has what the Iron Bowl no longer has when it was played at Birmingham's Legion Field every year from 1948-88 - a neutral site. That's right here in Dallas with an exact 50-50 split of tickets with each fan base getting half the stadium from 50-yard line to 50-yard line one way and the other from 50 to 50 the other way.

"That's why it's the best rivalry in the country - the stadium being exactly half and half Texas and Oklahoma," Texas senior associate athletic director Drew Martin told OutKick Wednesday.

The only other major rivalry at a neutral site is Florida and Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida, but the Gators have been so average in recent years to minimize that game.

"When you pull into the State Fair and you start smelling those corn dogs and turkey legs and there are fans from both teams," Sarkisian mused. "And then you get in those locker rooms that are literally 20 feet apart, and you’re staring at each team, and one goes first, the next one goes next, and it can get a little contentious in there, but that’s okay."

Texas wide receiver Dorian Leonard catches a touchdown pass against Oklahoma in the 2016 Red River Rivalry game that Oklahoma won, 45-40, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. (Getty Images)

Texas leads Oklahoma, 63-51-5. The series began in 1900 and has been played from 1929 on. Since 1932, all games have been in the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair in October. Sarkisian is 1-2 against the Sooners with a 55-48 loss in 2021, a 49-0 win in 2022 and a 34-30 loss last year - his only one in the regular season. He recovered to reach the College Football Playoff and finish 12-2. 

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"As we come out that tunnel, we're staring at a sea of burnt orange, and you just want to get there," Sarkisian said. "It’s a unique game because half of the game is a home game. The other half is a road game. I had to learn that the hard way in year one. We got stuck in OU’s end, and we were false starting. We couldn’t do anything right. So you have to play to that style of game."

It is truly a territorial affair.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian says there is nothing like the Texas-Oklahoma Red River Rivalry in Dallas every October. (Getty Images)

"And it's who’s who on the sidelines. And I’ll tell you this about both teams," Sarkisian said. "Both teams play as hard as they possibly can play in that game. And again, that’s to take nothing away from any other great game that I’ve been part of, but this one is uniquely special."

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables is 1-1 against Texas. He took his turn here on Tuesday and sharply answered a question about Texas before it was finished.

"You and Texas are in lockstep going into the SEC, and I don't know if you and Sark will be sharing information as you all go in the conference together, but do you see," and Venables stopped him.

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables wears the Golden Hat after his No. 11 Sooners beat No. 3 Texas, 34-30, last October 7 in Dallas. (Getty Images)

"Probably not," he said.

They may be going down the SEC aisle arm-in-arm, but Oklahoma and Texas will forever be at each other's throats.

"It's as deep-seated and hate-filled and emotional of a rivalry as there is in all of college football," Venables continued. "So, I don't see how the conference affiliation will make a big difference. I don't see it diminishing that series and the emotion and the pageantry, the intensity of it whatsoever."

Paul Finebaum Weighs In

Iron Bowl combatants and witnesses can make the same argument about their game, which will be on Nov. 30 at Alabama.

SEC Network talk show host superstar Paul Finebaum has been to both. But he has covered many more Iron Bowls as a former columnist at the Birmingham Post-Herald decades ago.

"Saying that the Red River Rivalry is better than the Iron Bowl is laughable," he told OutKick at a commercial break in the main press conference room Wednesday. "Anyone who has been to the Iron Bowl or both games can't even discuss that question with a straight face. There's nothing like the Iron Bowl."