ABC announced as TV designation for Red River Rivalry

The 2022 edition of the Red River Rivalry officially has its television channel. ESPN announced its major slate Tuesday of games to kickoff the season, and Texas and Oklahoma will play on ABC on Oct. 8 in the Week Six showdown. Game time will be announced at a later date.

The fifth-longest rivalry in college football history returns to ABC with a new look. When Oklahoma heads to the Cotton Bowl this year, Brent Venables will be leading the Sooners. And with an unprecedented offseason due to the transfer portal, Steve Sarkisian will bring a revamped Texas offense with him into Year Two.

Oklahoma overcame a 21-point deficit in last year’s game, as Caleb Williams came off the bench and delivered a 55-48 win. Now he and Lincoln Riley have relocated to USC, hoping to resurrect the college football giant. Williams took over for Spencer Rattler in the game for the Sooners, and finished 16-of-25 passing for 212 yards, two touchdowns while adding 88 rushing yards on just four carries, including a long, 66-yard touchdown run.

The 21-point comeback was the largest in the history of the Red River Rivalry. Texas went on to finish the season 5-7 while Oklahoma closed out at 11-2, seeing Riley leave for Los Angeles.

Texas, Oklahoma timeline for move to SEC

The archrivals are set to stay in the Big 12 Conference through the 2024 season, when they leave for the Southeastern Conference. But that timeline could be bumped up, especially with UCF, Cincinnati, BYU and Houston all joining for the 2023 season following their negotiations with the American Athletic Conference. If Texas and Oklahoma stay in the conference until the agreement expires, the Big 12 will become a 14-team league.

With the pending move to the SEC for Texas and Oklahoma, the conference will have 14 teams for a maximum of two seasons. The conference is in talks of restructuring the league schedule, possibly playing eight or nine conference games.