College Football

Top 5 Texas Football Games That Have Never Been Played

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:16 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Fansided, James Caldwell/FanSided via Hook'em Headlines

Texas Football Non-Conference Dream Games Series – Week 2/6

Texas Football has an impressive slate of non-conference games in future years. It starts with a home-and-home series with USC the next two seasons, followed by LSU, Ohio State, and Michigan.

Texas just completed a home-and-home with Notre Dame, which included an epic double overtime win over the Irish to start the 2016 season.

There are plenty more big-time college football opponents who Texas fans want to see come to DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin or watch play in a road environment. So, let’s dive into the second week of our list.

Week 2 – Texas Football “Never Ever Played Before” Games

Did you know that Texas and Florida State have never played in college football? Do you want to see Texas visit the blue turf in Boise, Idaho? How about Texas squaring off with the defending National Champions from Clemson for the first time?

There are plenty of big-time college football teams that Texas has never faced. We narrowed it down to five teams who Texas absolutely needs to add to their non-conference football schedule …

Jan 9, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) runs the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the fourth quarter in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

(1) Clemson Tigers. Clemson is suddenly the “it” brand in college football after Dabo Swinney led the Tigers to the National Title. A matchup between the Horns and Tigers sounds very juicy for a number of reasons.

(1) The color orange.

(2) Deshaun Watson is basically Vince Young.

(3) Clemson waited 35 years between National Titles in 1981 and 2016. Sound familiar? Texas also needed 35 years to win a National Title in-between 1970 and 2005.

So, let’s see this game scheduled with Texas heading to Death Valley and the Tigers visiting DKR for the first time.

Dec 30, 2016; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook warms up before a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

(2) Florida St. Seminoles. It’s hard to believe that Texas and Bobby Bowden never got together to schedule a home-and-home series. On paper, this reads like an epic matchup of college football heavyweights. It’s Texas vs. Florida high school football. It’s big stadiums, history, championships, and TV-ready.

For now, Texas will have to settle for a trip to Florida to play Charlie Strong’s new South Florida squad in 2020. But, we hope that one day Texas will head east to Tallahassee and the Seminoles will visit DKR.

Oct 29, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio (left) shakes hands with Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh after the game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

(3) Michigan St. Spartans. The Horns and Spartans have met quite a few times in college basketball. Rick Barnes and Tom Izzo faced off nine times from 2000 to 2014. But, the non-conference basketball series has never extended to college football.

Of course, Texas has only faced the Michigan Wolverines once in college football – the epic win in the 2005 Rose Bowl game. That will change in 2024 when Texas visits the Big House for the first time.

Texas should add a series with the Spartans while they’re at it. Texas feels like a Big 10 team at times. A series in East Lansing and Austin sounds like a good idea to extend their college basketball rivalry.

Oct 3, 2015; Boise, ID, USA; Boise State Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin shakes the hand of Boise State Broncos offensive lineman Jerhen Ertel (76) prior to kick off against Hawaii Warriors at Albertsons Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

(4) Boise St. Broncos. Boise State has significant history with Big 12 bluebloods. The Broncos beat Oklahoma in one of the most memorable bowl games in history to officially arrive on the national scene.

Historically, Texas has not played many teams in the upper Mountain Timezone. They shared a conference with Colorado for two decades, but Texas rarely schedules teams in-between the states of Texas and California unless it’s a guaranteed win over a New Mexico school. (Yeah, we’re trying to forget the BYU series ever happened!)

But, that should change with the Horns visiting the Blue Turf once. Plus, current Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin coached for the Longhorns at the end of Mack Brown’s tenure, creating a homecoming of sorts for the Broncos.

Nov 18, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Hayden Moore (8) throws a pass against the Memphis Tigers in the first half at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

(5) Cincinnati Bearcats. There are many options at #5, especially out of the American Athletic Conference. We decided to pick the Bearcats because of their tough, physical style of football that matches Texas Football.

There is also indirect NFL history between football in Texas and Cincinnati. In the old AFC Central Division, the Houston Oilers built a great rivalry with the Cincinnati Bengals. The rivalry has been renewed at the college level with the Bearcats and Houston Cougars now in the same AAC conference.

The Longhorns should be added to the mix with a date at DKR and a trip to Cincy, perhaps played at Paul Brown Stadium, where the Bengals play.

Sep 5, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish line squares off against the Texas Longhorns at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame defeats Texas 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

UPCOMING SERIES SCHEDULE

We are two weeks into this six-week series on Texas Football’s dream non-conference games.

Next Thursday, we dive into the Top 5 “One Loss to Avenge” games. This could mean a painful loss, like against Georgia in the 1984 Cotton Bowl. Or, the Horns playing a team only one time before – and losing.

Check back next Thursday for a new list of teams in the Texas Football Non-Conference Dream Matchup Series.

– Thursday, January 19: Top 5 Dream Home & Home Matchups

– Thursday, January 26: Top 5 Never, Ever Played Before

– Thursday, February 2: Top 5 “One Loss to Avenge” Games

– Thursday, February 9: Top 5 Tiebreaker Games

– Thursday, February 16: Top 5 “Been A Long Time” Games

– Thursday, February 23: Top 5 Texas Rivals Revisited

More from Hook'em Headlines

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

College Football