Thirty games into the 2025 college basketball season and it comes down to one game -- the final contest of the regular season and a classic Red River Rivalry between bitter rivals Oklahoma and Texas with much at stake for both teams.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi has both Oklahoma and Texas among the first four teams out in his latest NCAA Tournament projections. And he has the Sooners as the first team left out of the tournament going into the final weekend of the regular season.
Both teams are coming off much-needed wins earlier this week. Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12) defeated No. 15 Missouri behind a career-high 31-point performance from freshman Jeremiah Fears. Texas (17-13, 6-11) came away with an 87-82 overtime win at home over No. 25 Mississippi State.
With eight SEC teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including three of the top five, this is one of the rare times this season with two unranked SEC teams facing each other. The Sooners and Longhorns are in a battle for 13th in the 16-team SEC standings. That spot currently belongs to Texas, but an Oklahoma win on Saturday would forge a tie.
Oklahoma owns a 57-49 record in the all-time series with its chief rival, but Texas is 26-20 in games played in Austin. The Sooners have lost the last three times they have paid a visit to the Moody Center in Austin. The last time OU won there was an 80-79 squeaker in 2021.
Texas won the earlier game this season in Norman 77-73. The Sooners fought back from a 23-point second-half deficit but came up just short at the end. OU cut the Longhorn lead down to two points with 15 seconds left but couldn't get any closer.
Saturday's game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network with an announce crew of Roy Philpott (play-by-play) and Pat Bradley (analysis).
What fans need to know
Oklahoma
- OU superstar freshman Jeremiah Fears scored 31 points in his last game and has averaged 22.2 over his last five games. He must have another strong game for the Sooners to win at Texas.
- Over his last four games, 6-foot-10 senior forward Sam Godwin has averaged 12 points and five rebounds and has made 20 of 21 field-goal attempts, including his last 19. He will be out Saturday, though. Godwin injured his knee in the first half against Missouri and did not return to the game.
- Oklahoma shot 51% from the field in the earlier game with Texas this season and lost. That tells you it's not just about making shots. You have to do the other little things well in order to win games in a conference as good as the SEC. In the first game vs. Texas, the Sooners committed 18 turnovers, which the Longhorns turned into 16 points.
- Oklahoma and Texas are remarkably comparable in most team statistical areas. The one statistic that stands out is the Longhorns' record against Porter Moser-coached Oklahoma teams. Moser is 0-7 against Texas in his time at Oklahoma. Conversely, Texas head coach Rodney Terry is 5-0 against the Sooners both as interim head coach and head coach at Texas. Coaching could end up being the big difference in this game.
Texas
- Texas has won eight straight games against Oklahoma and nine of the last 10. Saturday is Senior Day at Texas.
- The Longhorns have four starters averaging at least 10 points per game, led by freshman Tre Johnson (20.6), who leads the SEC in scoring, and Arthur Kaluma (12.6). Kaluma also averages eight rebounds a game. Junior guard Jordan Pope had 27 points in the first game vs. OU. Johnson shoots 44.8% from the field and 40.3% from beyond the arc. He also is not the guy you want to foul late in the game. He is an 87.6% shooter at the foul line.
- Three different Longhorn players have scored at least 30 points in a game this season (Jordan Pope 42 vs. New Orleans, Tre Johnson 39 at Arkansas and 34 by Arthur Kaluma against No. 2 Auburn). Johnson has recorded three such games this season.
- Of Texas' six conference wins this season, four have been against ranked SEC teams in Missouri, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Mississippi State. Three of those wins were at home.
Prediction
Oklahoma is just 1-7 in true road games this season, and Texas is a difficult place to play, even with the Longhorns just 11-6 this season at home.
Texas has owned the Sooners on the hardwood the past four seasons, posting eight straight wins. All good things eventually come to an end, and on Saturday night, Oklahoma breaks through and finally snaps the long losing string against the hated Longhorns.