If there were ever a time for the Red River Rivalry to result in an embarrassment for the Sooners that leaves Oklahoma fans in a sour mood until next October, it would be 2026. Vegas knows, though, and OU fans should too, that you can never plan for a one-sided rivalry game, no matter the situation on both sides of the Red River.
Despite the Sooners struggling at 2-2 and the Longhorns on top of college football at 4-0, FanDuel has Texas as a 9.5-point favorite as of Tuesday, which isn't a massive margin considering it's the No. 1 team taking on an unranked squad that was just blown out by the No. 2 team in the country.
Both teams are enjoying a bye week right now before meeting at 2:30 p.m. CT on Oct. 10 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, so these are pretty early odds that will likely fluctuate over the next week and a half.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Betting odds and predictions are meaningless when Oklahoma and Texas play
Just last week, the Sooners were 13.5-point underdogs against No. 2 Georgia before getting dismantled 41-13, which easily covered the spread at 28 points. It was actually the first time the Sooners were underdogs in 2026, and rightfully so.
That game was in Athens, and spreads always favor the home team somewhat, but it also proved even more that OU's offense is every bit as bad as we thought. We first learned that the Sooners still have a dormant offense when they lost to Michigan 17-10 despite being what seemed like disrespected 4.5-point favorites on the road.
After that showing against the Bulldogs, OU shouldn't be expected to stand a chance against most teams in the SEC. If the Sooners were facing the likes of Florida or Ole Miss next on the road, you can bet that spread would be much larger than 9.5 points. It might even be more than the 13.5 points it was against Georgia.
But the Red River Rivalry, or any rivalry game in college football, can't be measured the same, especially with a perfectly split crowd at a neutral site. Previous results and current situations mean nothing once the Sooners and Longhorns take the field. Even Texas fans, while high on their horse, are on edge knowing anything can happen.
There's also something uneasy for Texas fans knowing that it feels like the Sooners are due at the Cotton Bowl.
OU fans know all too well that blowouts can still happen at the Cotton Bowl. Just recently, in 2022, which was Brent Venables' first Red River Rivalry as head coach, the Longhorns trounced OU 49-0. Venables is 1-3 against Texas, and his team has failed to score a touchdown in all three losses, including the last two.
This year, OU's offense is averaging only 22 points per game, which ranks 110th of 138 FBS teams. On the other side, Texas' defense is giving up just 13.3 points per game as a top-20 unit.
Again, all logic says the Sooners have no chance to even keep it close against Texas, but there's just something about the Red River Rivalry that makes you expect the unexpected and not even worth predicting.
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