The Texas Longhorns are lucky they never have to leave their state to play the Oklahoma Sooners.
OU and Texas meet at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Rivalry every season in October, so although the Longhorns never have to experience Sooner Nation in full force, even outsiders agree that would be worst-case scenario for the Longhorns.
A couple of stadium atmosphere rankings this offseason both listed the Sooners' Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium inside the top 10 and above the Longhorns' Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on both lists.
Rankings favor Sooners over Longhorns in stadium atmosphere
Most recently, on Thursday, Blake Toppmeyer ranked all 16 SEC stadiums for USA Today. Toppmeyer claimed he had visited every SEC stadium, and most even more than once, making him an unbiased option to compare the venues.
Toppmeyer ranked Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at No. 9, one spot above Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. He admitted the stadium wasn't among the greatest the SEC had to offer, but still praised the "Palace on the Prairie." However, he did take an honest and fitting jab at Texas' crowd.
"Texas earns its reputation for having a bit of a 'wine and cheese crowd' amid its 100,119 capacity, but Longhorns fans still can turn it up for big games," Toppmeyer wrote. Spot on. Texas fans will show up once a year, but that place is a crowded waiting room the rest of the season.
EA Sports also included Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in the top 10 of its toughest places to play in the College Football 26 video game. The Sooners were at No. 8, which was the fifth-best from the SEC. Texas was way down at No. 13, just above Florida State, which was 2-5 at home last season.
Texas gets the advantage of 19,993 more fans and still can't live up to Sooner Nation. Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium has a capacity of 100,119, compared to 80,126 in Norman.
The Red River Rivalry will always be played at a neutral site, and should be at the Cotton Bowl as long as it's standing, but just imagine that atmosphere at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium if the Longhorns were in Norman. Oh boy. That means Sooner Nation is getting all this praise, and no one has even seen its peak yet.
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