As one of the largest college football programs in the country, the Texas Longhorns naturally have a lot of rivalries, and many of them are bitter. The Longhorns are one of the most recognizable brands in college football, and fellow college football programs love to hate them.
The Longhorns rank fourth in all-time wins in college football history, showing the depth of lore associated with the program. Natrually, when you win that much, rivalries are sure to develop. So who is Texas’ biggest rival?
Ranking Texas Longhorns Biggest Rivals
While having a number of rivalries, Oklahoma is seen as Texas’ deepest rival. Still, the rivalry between Texas and Texas Tech is also fierce. Texas also holds rivalries with other schools in the state of Texas, with Baylor and TCU. Most notably, they share an intense rivalry with Texas A&M.
The Texas-Texas A&M rivalry was passionate and heated until the Aggies left for the SEC in 2012. The game hasn’t been played since, but as Texas moves to the SEC in 2024, we could see the rivalry be reignited.
Texas-Oklahoma Rivalry
Of all of the Longhorns’ rivalries, the one with the Oklahoma Sooners is certainly the most heated.
The Red River separates the cross-border rivals, and since the first showdown in 1900, the rivalry has been played every year since 1929 — 118 times.
The two teams play the Red River Rivalry annually, on the second Saturday in October, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, which was chosen in 1932 since the city is situated between the two schools in Austin, Texas, and Norman, Oklahoma, and the site of the Texas State Fair.
MORE: History of the Texas Longhorns
As with any good college football rivalry, the Red River Rivalry also has its own distinctive trophy. The winner of the game takes the Golden Hat — a cowboy hat made of bronze. The rivalry also extends off the field with the governors of both Texas and Oklahoma. The losing governor must provide beef to the other governor.
Texas leads the all-time Red River Rivalry series with 63 wins to Oklahoma’s 51. There have also been five ties. Oklahoma won the 2023 edition, 34-30, when both teams entered the game ranked.
Texas-Texas Tech Rivalry
Texas Tech hates Texas, and that feeling is somewhat reciprocated. Supporters of the two schools hold resentful grudges against each other, but this is especially true of Texas Tech, which sees the University of Texas as the big brother who dominates the funding and coverage.
Known as “The Battle For The Chancellor’s Spurs,” the winner of this rivalry wins the Chancellor’s Spurs — a trophy made of spurs that are exchanged between the chancellors of both schools.
The Texas-Texas Tech rivalry was first played in 1928 and has been played every season since 1960. Texas leads the all-time series with 54 wins to Texas Tech’s 18 wins. The Red Raiders won the most recent edition of the rivalry last season in overtime with the score at 37-34 in Lubbock.
As Texas transitions from the Big 12 to the SEC, the future of this rivalry will become uncertain. Other Texas rivalries have gone stale since Texas’s move to the SEC was confirmed, but fans are hoping the same does not happen to the “Battle For The Chancellor’s Spurs.”