Paul Finebaum Predicts Texas-Oklahoma Winner in Eye-Catching Fashion

Venerable SEC media member Finebaum had a little fun with his OU/Texas pick.

ESPN personality Paul Finebaum delivered his Red River Rivalry pick while having a little fun with the Oklahoma crowd. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Paul Finebaum is many things, but not above a little casual trolling is certainly one of them. Known as one of the preeminent voices of SEC media well before his time began with ESPN, the network leans heavily on Finebaum's SEC expertise. And with the relatively recent expansion of the SEC, plenty of fan bases are getting to know Finebaum more and more.

Add Oklahoma and Texas to that group, as the two former Big 12 stalwarts are getting to see more and more of Finebaum. This week on SEC Nation, Finebaum weighed in on the 2026 edition of the Red River Rivalry in his typical fashion.

The four SEC Nation cast members weighed in on the Oklahoma/Texas game. Despite the show being in Norman, Oklahoma this week, the first three cast members went with the conventional wisdom and picked the Texas Longhorns who are favored by around a touchdown in the rivalry battle with the Sooners.

Finebaum made it more interesting.

Finebaum's Take

"I keep hearing that you have a rivalry game and anything can happen. And you Sooners know that, right?" asked Finebaum. Having stoked the crowd, he then turned heel and disappointed them.

"But I don't think you really have to factor that in because there's one team over here going up," continued Finebaum. "There's another team going down. And the Sooners are going down. Hook 'em, Horns!"

THE PICKS ARE IN‼️

The SEC Nation crew make their picks for the Red River Rivalry 🤠 pic.twitter.com/8PCoNgnNNh

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 10, 2026

Oklahoma's Troubles

Finebaum delivered the unanimous vote for Texas and it's unsurprising as the top-ranked Longhorns travel to a 2-2 Oklahoma team that has had massive problems on offense this season. Since a 51-0 win over UTEP in Week 1, Oklahoma has scored just 10, 14, and 13 points in the past three games, which included a loss to Michigan and a 41-13 loss to Georgia. The Sooners failed to gain 300 yards in any of those three games.

An 8-0 ESPN pick for Texas

While Texas's offense has been somewhat inconsistent, the Longhorn defense has had enough strength to hold off Ohio State and Tennessee-- albeit by a combined four-point margin. While Oklahoma has an even more stout defense, the conventional wisdom is that a balanced Texas team can probably score enough points to win. While pregame pickers on both SEC Nation and College GameDay took time to shout out the OU defense, a unanimous 8-0 verdict between the two shows had the Longhorns winning. That said, few seemed to have as much fun in stoking the crowd as did Finebaum.