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When Oklahoma and Texas take action to the Cotton Bowl on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET, it will be the 107th meeting in this historic rivalry.
Texas leads the series at 59-42-5, but has not won this game since 2009.
"There's a lot of emotion that goes into that game," said Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones. "It's just a different type of game because there's so much tradition."
Are Sooners still flawed?
It took two weeks and one game, but Oklahoma went from flawed to fixed.
Right? The truth is, the Sooners (3-1, 1-1 Big 12) lost at the wrong time and won at the right time. They have issues, but 2012 isn't lost yet, either.
And this week, it's the Cotton Bowl, the Longhorns (4-1, 1-1) and a chance to establish an identity. Fixed or flawed? More answers are on the way.
"Each year is different and players are different," offensive coordinator Josh Heupel said. "You can't pay attention to outside distractions. You know who and what you are as a team. If you pay attention to outside influences that don't have a ton of understanding of what's going, aren't there every day and don't watch the tape, you set yourself up for failure. Just go about your business and go to work."
Texas should provide a better barometer, and the timing is just about right. OU not only won and dominated at Texas Tech, but got a lot of help too with the losses by Florida State, Georgia and LSU. Also, Texas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma all have a loss in conference play. The loser between OU and Texas is likely eliminated from winning the conference, and playing for the national title. Expect urgency to be high for both teams.
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All on line for Texas, Oklahoma
The droning on and on about the Red River Rivalry is decades old, now. As with any good rivalry, it doesn't have anything to do with sports at its core. It's just that a football game is the most convenient and least destructive way to express interstate aggression.
"It's like a bowl game at midseason," Texas coach Mack Brown said.
But as important as the game has been to the State of Oklahoma and the Republic of Texas for all this time, it is even more significant now, because both OU and UT are slowly running out of rivals.
This year's edition has that going for it. And more. When Saturday's game from the State Fair in Dallas is over, either No. 15 Texas or No. 13 Oklahoma will be eliminated from the national championship picture.
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