247Sports predicts Texas to lose in nonconference, beat Oklahoma
Losses are inevitable in college football unless you are Alabama, Clemson, or Ohio State.
No Big 12 team has gone undefeated since Texas won the national championship against USC in 2005. Oklahoma nearly pulled it off with Baker Mayfield in 2017 but lost to Georgia in the Rose Bowl.
247Sports predicted where each team in the Big 12 will pick up their first loss. For Texas, the second game of the year against Arkansas was the pick.
There’s not a lot of reason right now to doubt that Steve Sarkisian can’t get the job done at Texas. That being said, it’s not going to be an overnight job. It’s going to take the former Alabama offensive coordinator some time to adjust and get things going and a road test into SEC territory is going to be one of the toughest tests Sarkisian goes through in his first year. Arkansas appears to be going in the right direction under Sam Pittman right now and has a great chance to get a huge win over Texas before Sarkisian establishes himself.
Picking up a loss to Arkansas would not be surprising at all. Arkansas has been the bottom dwellers of the SEC for a few years now but overperformed in Sam Pittman’s first year. Three losses came by a combined eight points.
Mix in a hostile crowd at 100% capacity gearing up for an old Southwest Conference rivalry and Texas will definitely be on upset alert.
Even with an early loss to Arkansas, 247Sports goes on to predict Texas will win the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma. At first thought, this would be a Tom Herman special. Losing to an inferior team as a favorite, only to go on and beat one of the best Oklahoma teams in over a decade.
The Sooners will be the pick to win the Big 12 and might actually go unbeaten. But the Texas game with a new head coach in charge will likely be the toughest test they face in the first six weeks and perhaps all season. Away from home, Oklahoma might get tripped up.
Trading an early-season loss for a guaranteed win in Dallas is usually a trade most people would take. However, Sarkisian needs to make it through nonconference play without a loss to get his tenure rolling. Taking your chances against Oklahoma would be worth the risk.
