Let’s get this out of the way before we start getting too carried away — a College Football Playoff berth and a national championship appearance — have started to quickly fade away for these Texas Longhorns.

We have to look at this team honestly and admit this is a team that is painfully green and still growing. There is nothing wrong with that, though, with seven more games left, there is still a window of opportunity to get things turned around and look more presentable.

But time is running out to change the trajectory of the season.

Looking back at the No. 1 ranking given to the Longhorns by the AP in the preseason poll, it almost feels obnoxious with how overzealous the voters were. The choice has really damaged the sanctity and the existence of the AP poll and, in turn, has drawn the ire of some in the sports community.

Texas’ performance in Gainesville last week gave the doubters everything they wanted; it confirmed their suspicions about this team. It was like giving an addict access to his vice just one last time before going over the edge.

So now here we are, in the present moment, the Longhorns drop out of a spot in the poll for the first time since 2022 and head into their first of three rivalry games — by far the most bitter of the three this weekend.

The Oklahoma Sooners enter the Red River Rivalry with one of the best defenses in the country, along with a dynamic quarterback, possibly returning to action after making a blood pact to heal his injured hand in record time. But hitting the Longhorns without a ranking before the showdown in Dallas might prove to be major trouble for the Sooners.

It’s a rare occurrence for Oklahoma to enter this weekend in October outside of the polls; it has only happened eight times since 1980, but for Texas, it’s a much different tune.

Within the same time frame, the Longhorns have been unranked 16 times heading into one of college football’s most hate-filled rivalry games. This game is always a must-watch on television.

Living up to the strange and unpredictable nature of rivalry games, the Longhorns hold a record of 9-7 as an unranked team against the Sooners. In six of those victories, Texas played the role of spoiler, taking down a ranked Oklahoma. Although they were losers, in three of them, the Longhorns came within a possession of the Sooners.

The last time Texas played this game unranked, it came against one of the few times the Sooners were also unranked back in that fabled year of 2022. The Longhorns thrashed Oklahoma, 49-0, marking just the seventh shutout in the series’ history since 1955.

I know there is that funny stat floating around about the seven out of the last eight games, the team wearing white has been victorious, especially with this season, Oklahoma is set to wear white this edition. But if history tracks, Texas has a .563 winning percentage as the unranked “underdog.”

With all of this being said, I’m still going with my gut and I’m picking the Sooners to win in Dallas.
By all means, I implore the Longhorns to shock me this weekend, but I have my doubts.

Here’s the consolation prize on this game: Red River is one of those few matchups that you can never be too sure on, weird things happen. Logic and reasoning — get thrown out the window when the burnt orange and crimson meet at the Cotton Bowl.

For our sake, I hope this Saturday’s matchup is not a blowout and lives up to the lore of games past, a close, nail-biting affair that comes down to whoever has the ball on the final drive.