On Saturday afternoon, the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will face off on the gridiron for the 120th time. While it may not be the sport's longest-running rivalry, it would be awfully easy to make the case that the Red River Rivalry defines college football as much, if not more, than any other.

Everyone involved is surely aware of the stakes, and that includes Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who has three go-rounds against Oklahoma since arriving in 2021. Sark is 1-2 in the Red River Rivalry and will bring his No.1 ranked Longhorns to the Cotton Bowl with hopes of getting back to even against the Sooners.

Sure, maybe this wasn't a “rah-rah speech,” but if this 24 second video doesn't get you psyched for Texas-Oklahoma, I just don't know what's going to do it for you. Maybe a trip down memory lane? Do you need a reminder that four of the last five meetings have been decided by one score, including a four-overtime classic in 2020, a 21-point comeback in 2021, and a Sooners upset over the Longhorns last year?

Not bad, right?

Texas and Oklahoma bring Red River Rivalry to SEC

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Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables, at right, and Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talk before the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022.
© Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For the first time, the Red River Rivalry will be contested within the SEC, and there's no telling whether the move to the Southeastern Conference will change the direction of the rivalry. While the Texas Longhorns lead the all-time series 63-51-5, since both schools joined the Big 12 in 1996, Oklahoma has an 18-11 edge over Texas.

Like Texas, Brent Venables and the 18th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners will come into the Red Rivalry Rivalry off of a Week 6 bye, but before that, the Sooners had to come from behind against Auburn in order to avoid a second consecutive loss in SEC play.

In the 11 instances in which either Oklahoma or Texas was the No. 1 ranked team in the country, the top-ranked team is an impressive 9-2.