Episode 9: the House Settlement + OU-Texas

As promised I return to the topic of college football to discuss recent developments,particularly preliminary approval of the House Settlement and recent Top 10 upsets. Then, I turn to discuss the annual Red River Rivalry game between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas’s Fair Park. This Saturday’s game will be the 12th time that one of the two teams enters ranked #1 in the AP poll. The last time was 2008, when Texas upset Oklahoma. The last time Texas entered the game ranked #1 was 1984. That edition featured Mack Brown as an Oklahoma assistant coach and ultimately ended in a 15-15 tie. OU is 6-2 in Red River Rivalry Games when ranked #1; Texas is 2-0-1. Some of my OU-Texas commentary come from my 2021 Op-Ed on the game: “The Red River Showdown reminds us that Oklahoma and Texas are inseparable,” Made by History Blog, Washington Post, 9 October 2021.Corrections: I incorrectly identified Vernon Parrington’s Pulitzer Prize winning book. It was Main Currents in American Thought.The Texas Longhorns did in fact win the 1963 National Championship after upsetting #1 OU while ranked #2 in the only 1 vs. 2 matchup in Red River Rivalry History.Oklahoma won the 1948 Red River Shootout, the first college football game broadcast-live in Texas on Amon Carter’s WBAP-TV.I incorrectly stated Texas went on to the championship game following their upset of #1 OU in 2008. Oklahoma rebounded and made the 2009 BCS Championship game, where the Sooners lost to Tim Tebow’s Florida Gators. Get full access to History + Sport at amcgregor.substack.com/subscribe