For the 11th time ever, the Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the Texas Longhorns in football.
The marquee game of the Week 2 slate in college football will be between the No. 11 Texas Longhorns and the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide.
This is the second of a home-and-home between the blue-blood programs. Alabama narrowly escaped Austin last year with a road victory over the Longhorns. It was the first time Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian went up against his former mentor in Alabama head coach Nick Saban since he took the job in Austin. The winner of Saturday's game could make the College Football Playoff.
Here is what you need to know heading into the latest installment of this budding rivalry series.
Alabama vs. Texas: All-time series record, meetings, streaks
To date, the Crimson Tide and the Longhorns have played 10 times. Texas holds a 7-2-1 all-time series lead over Alabama, if you can believe that. The Longhorns won the first four games in this series dating back to 1902. They tied each other in 1960 when they played in Houston. The iconic Darrell K Royal and Paul "Bear" Bryant led the way. Shockingly, Bryant never beat Texas at Alabama.
Texas would win the following three meetings after the 1960 game in 1965, 1973 and 1982. It would take until 2010 for Alabama to put a W in the ledger in this all-time series. Saban's Crimson Tide defeated Mack Brown's Longhorns 37-21 in the Rose Bowl in 2010. Alabama is currently riding a two-game winning streak over Texas, as the Crimson Tide eked out a narrow 20-19 win during last season.
With Texas joining the SEC next season alongside Oklahoma, look for this potentially budding rivalry to heat up a bit. The Saban vs. Sarkisian component certainly adds some intrigue. Since the SEC is going to a 16-team league without divisions in 2024, we may see the Crimson Tide take on the Longhorns far more regularly than ever before. As college football fans, we all win with this scenario.
May this non-conference game be a close and captivating as last year's contest was over in Austin.