How Will Oklahoma's Performance in the Red River Rivalry Shape the SEC Title Race?

Any time Oklahoma and Texas get together, bragging rights are on the line.

But this weekend’s top five battle in Austin will shape the race for the SEC regular-season crown as the NCAA Tournament rapidly approaches.

The No. 2 Sooners are in pole position to defend their 2025 regular-season title, entering the weekend at 38-3 overall and 11-1 in conference action.

A series victory for OU could essentially knock Texas out of the race, but Oklahoma would still have tons of work to do before wrapping up any hardware.

No. 3 Alabama’s series victory over the Longhorns means Mike White’s defending national champions sit at 32-4 overall and 9-3 on the year. Oklahoma won the SEC with seven conference losses in 2025, but falling to the Sooners this weekend would give Texas little room for error the rest of the way with a handful of big weekends still ahead.

The Crimson Tide themselves loom large in the SEC race, too.

Alabama is also sitting at 9-3 in league play, but the road ahead looks far more treacherous for both the Sooners and the Longhorns.

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After traveling to Austin, Oklahoma will return to Love’s Field to host No. 8 Arkansas. No. 16 Georgia will be in Norman the following weekend before the Sooners close the year in College Station to battle No. 14 Texas A&M.

Texas still has to visit Georgia and host Arkansas, with a trip to Kentucky in between, before the SEC Tournament, while Alabama has to travel to Auburn, host Kentucky, go to No. 9 Tennessee and host South Carolina.

The Gamecocks, Auburn and the Wildcats are all in the bottom four of the SEC with six combined conference wins between the three of them.

No. 6 Florida also remains in the hunt alongside the Razorbacks and the Aggies.

The Gators have played one more SEC series than the rest of the top seven.

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Florida still has to head to South Carolina and Georgia, with a home series against Auburn splitting up the two road trips. The Gators have SEC wins in the bank and are expected to roll through the Gamecocks and the Tigers, meaning the final series of the regular season against the Bulldogs could be decisive.

In 2025, Texas finished one game off of Oklahoma and Tennessee finished two games back of the Sooners, meaning it would be a surprise for one team to pull away from the chasing pack over the final month of the season.

A series victory would give the Sooners the upper hand throughout April, but the Longhorns were able to upset Oklahoma in the last series in Austin two years ago.

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