38 Years of History Says Texas Underdogs Against Hogs in 2024

Longhorns may have been good in 60s, but it's been long time since they haven't been Razorbacks' doormat

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Jun 16, 2023 12:42 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The days of Daryl Royal and his team of all white players with linemen under six foot and averaging around 200 pounds must have done some serious damage to the 70+ Arkansas Razorback crowd. Even those who were too young to recall those Longhorn teams from the 1960s seem to fear them.

That's why at a table in Sassy's Red House in Fayetteville last Wednesday, the generational divide stopped roughly where the bottles of in-house barbecue sauces sat as news trickled out that a few hours later, it would be formalized that Arkansas and Texas would meet in Fayetteville in 2024. On one side, a man in his 60s, his face borderline ashen white in fear because Texas, the scourge of football that invokes unshakable nightmares among Arkansas retirees, was going to march into town with its unstoppable force and wipe Razorback football off the college map.

On the other, a man in his mid-40s and his 10-year old son high-fived, giddy with excitement that Texas, the overhyped doormat of the college football world, would be replacing Alabama on the schedule, greatly reducing is difficulty. Such celebration appeared to offend the eldest gentleman. As he pleaded for his companions to see Longhorn football as some behemoth of the sports world, they could only laugh and wonder openly why anyone would be afraid of a Big 12 basketball school, especially one dominated by Arkansas on the regular despite where the program might be at the time.

The older chap started to mention something about the 50s, but was met with the fact that was nearly 80 years ago in a time when only white players were allowed to be on the field and linemen were the size of small wide receivers. He soon became belligerent at the idea that these young bucks refused to see Texas as an unconquerable mountain that every good Arkansan should view it.

However, even old history suggests Texas is the underdog when it comes to Arkansas, and that the Razorbacks should fear the Longhorns about as much as Crimson Tide fans fear the Hogs. Even if you go back to 1986, Arkansas leads the series 7-5. However, since 1991, the final year in the Southwest Conference, Arkansas is 5-2 against Texas.

That particular season, Texas was a familiar 5-6, a roughly .500 record that has become synonymous with the Longhorns over the past decade. Last year's 8-5 campaign was one of the better seasons Texas has had in a while. It was the third best record in 13 seasons. Five of those seasons featured losing records against weak schedules. Only once since 2009 have the Longhorns reached double digit wins despite playing in the Big 12.

There's a reason why SEC teams were falling over themselves hoping Texas would show up on their 2024 schedule. It's not because any of them hate the Longhorns. It's because they see A&M's little brother as an easy win.

The Arkansas record against Texas would be 6-1 since 1991 if it weren't for a safety at the beginning of the game against the Longhorns in 2004. And that was despite Arkansas losing two fumbles well within field goal range and throwing two interceptions in a 22-20 loss.

There's an SEC Shorts video that perfectly captures how younger Texas fans feel about having Arkansas on the schedule. At the end of it, the Arkansas Razorback locks the door and tells the Texas Longhorn that the Hogs aren't locked in the conference with Texas. No, Texas, the team that became so weak it couldn't handle the "Horns Down" sign, is locked into a conference with Arkansas.

Will the Longhorns get good enough to beat the Razorbacks on a consistent basis at some point? Maybe. Theoretically, Arkansas should one day get good enough to beat Alabama, but over the past 18 years, the Razorbacks have a single double-overtime win over the Tide. That includes 16 consecutive losses and a win that is so long ago that Texas wasn't even a basketball school yet.

When Arkansas and Texas hook up in 2024, there will be 38 years of evidence that the Longhorns aren't going to suddenly start dominating the Razorbacks. In fact, the past 33 years of evidence says that unless Chad Morris suddenly finds his way back into employment in Fayetteville, it's highly unlikely Texas wins hardly any games in the near future.