Texas v. Texas Christian

From 1914 to 1996, the Southwest Conference was one of the best-known and most-beloved sports leagues in America.  I have never met a college football fan from Texas who didn't miss it.  Some of my finest memories as a college football fan involve the old three-way battles between Texas, Arkansas, and Texas A & M back when they were all in the SWC.

The University of Texas led the way in founding the SWC in 1914, and Texas Christian joined the league in 1923.  For decades thereafter, Texas and Texas Christian competed against each other -- and the other SWC members -- in all sports.  And then, in the early 1990's, it all started to fall apart.  Arkansas left in 1992.  A few years later, the conference was destroyed when Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, and Baylor decided to join the old Big 8, thus creating the Big XII.  The remaining members of the SWC, including Texas Christian, appeared to have been sent into a permanent limbo, perpetually excluded from big-time college football.

But the Big XII made much less sense in real life than it did on paper.  The old Big 8 had a solid core of Midwestern common sense -- enough to balance Barry Switzer, Billy Tubbs, and other hard-charging types at Oklahoma.  The old SWC had a delicate balance whereby the other eight schools kept a close eye on UT -- and each other -- thus making sure that no one school got too powerful.  And so the Big 8 and the SWC survived for many decades.  However, the earnest burghers in places like Nebraska and Kansas were a terrible fit with the high-rollers from Texas.

As time went on, and the demands of the Texans became more and more intrusive, the old Big 8 types started heading for the exits. Colorado -- desperate to leave behind its plainer Big 8 brethren for the bright lights of Cali -- decamped for the Pac-12.  Nebraska -- fed up with a Texas culture it neither understood nor respected -- joined its fellow burghers in the Big 10.  Missouri -- terrified of being abandoned by the Texans, but unable to get into the Big 10 -- seized an offer to join the SEC, even though it will never fit in there.  Most dramatically of all, Texas A&M, tired of a century's worth of jokes at its expense by the people in Austin, and recognizing a once-in-a-lifetime chance to gain a recruiting advantage over the Longhorns, also joined the SEC, where it was a perfect fit.

Suddenly UT was in the position of T.D. Fitzgerald (from the great children's book The Great Brain), who occasionally found that his brilliant but selfish antics left him without playmates.  And so, in 2012, the lordly Longhorns were forced to open their playpen to the very Texas Christian Horned Frogs they had scorned back in 1996.  Texas leads the all-time series 62-21-1.  Texas beat Texas Christian 24 times in a row from 1968 to 1991, including wins by scores of 58-0, 69-7, and 81-16.  Texas had left Texas Christian for dead -- they only played the Horned Frogs once from 1995 to 2012 -- but they had to take them back.  (I'm still hoping that the next two members in the Big XII are Southern Methodist and Rice.)

The Horned Frogs beat Texas 20-13 in 2012, their first year in the Big XII, but the Longhorns won 30-7 last year.  And now, remarkably, the Longhorns are in position to spoil one of the greatest seasons in Texas Christian history.  Here are the current standings in the Big XII (AP rankings in parentheses):

(5) Baylor:  6-1, 9-1
(6) Texas Christian:  6-1, 9-1
(11) Kansas St:  6-1, 8-2
(20) Oklahoma:  5-3, 8-3
Texas:  5-3, 6-5
W. Virginia:  4-4, 6-5
Oklahoma St:  3-5, 5-6
Texas Tech:  2-6, 4-7
Kansas:  1-7, 3-8
Iowa St:  0-7, 2-8

If Texas Christian can win this game, the Horned Frogs will only need to beat Iowa State in Fort Worth to finish 8-1 in the Big XII and 11-1 overall.  Such an outcome would guarantee Texas Christian a share of the Big XII title, and would leave open the possibility that Texas Christian -- a school that once lost to Texas 24 years in a row -- would appear in the first college football playoff.  Plus, of course, they would keep the UCFC.  On the other hand, Texas can take it all away -- the Big XII title, the UCFC, the chance at the national championship -- with a win in Austin on Thanksgiving night.

If I had to guess, I would pick the Longhorns to win this game.  It hasn't been an easy year for first-year coach Charlie Strong, who has tried to bring an old-fashioned work ethic to UT.  His second game was an embarrassing 41-7 loss to BYU, and after a 23-0 loss at Kansas State on October 25, his Longhorns had a record of only 3-5.  But since then, they have played much better.  They beat Texas Tech 34-13, they hammered West Virginia 33-16, and they blew out Oklahoma State 28-7.  This game is UT's last of the regular season, they are at home, and they have a great chance to show the rest of the country that Texas football is on the way back.  Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs have had their problems on the road -- they lost 61-58 at Baylor, and they barely survived games at West Virginia (31-30) and Kansas (34-30).  Of course, Texas Christian has its back to the wall, and they may play their best game of the year.  But I don't see them playing well enough to beat Texas.

Of course, I could be wrong.  Vegas has Texas Christian as a 6 1/2 point favorite over the Longhorns, with an over-under of 55.  That would work out to something like a 31-24 win for the Frogs.  Whoever wins, I expect a very entertaining game -- one worthy of a great old rivalry that carries the memory of a great old conference.