The new Rivalry with Georgia & the Seasonal Foes of Texas Past

The Longhorns have two forever rivals. Oklahoma: a border war that feels biblical and Texas A&M: the relative who’s your antithesis that you fight with at every holiday. 

But occasionally, certain teams emerge as “seasonal rivals.” The animosity can spring up quickly, like road rage on I-35, or it can boil over like long-simmering resentment toward the neighbor who always blows leaves into your yard. These rivalries can be driven by pettiness, recruiting battles, conference squabbles or heated on-field clashes.

It’s obvious that the Georgia Bulldogs are emerging as Texas’ next great seasonal rival. Bevo charging Uga back in January of 2019 might’ve been a sign of what was to come.

Let’s look at the varying degrees of “seasonal rivals” in the Longhorns’ past.

One year ago today, Bevo had the audacity to go after Uga 😮 pic.twitter.com/U4czUR2zxz

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2020

Tier One: The Pigs.

Arkansas is a rival mostly because of the off-field friendship and on-field rivalry between Darrell K Royal and Frank Broyles. The two battled for control of the Southwest Conference and the hate between the fanbases grew. Plus, the two programs have played in some of the most legendary games in college football history.

But when Arkansas left for the SEC in 1991, the rivalry faded into being a seasonal one for several generations of Texas fans, who focused more on Big 12 and national opponents. Arkansas fans, however, never let go. They still consider Texas their biggest rival, a fact made clear during the Longhorns’ last two trips to Fayetteville.

Will the rivalry regain mutual steam? That’s mostly up to Arkansas, a program that hasn’t competed for an SEC title since 2006. Like many other teams, the ability to beat Texas defines them. As Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman agreed: “Arkansas hates Texas more than they love themselves.”

Tier Two: National Turf Wars

This is where Georgia fits in.

First, once upon a time, Texas and Nebraska were seasonal rivals. The Longhorns knocked the Cornhuskers off their national pedestal and dominated them in the Big 12. Nebraska eventually got so fed up, they bolted for the Big Ten, abandoning their own historic rivalries for the Big 10, where they still haven’t found their footing.

INSERT NOTRE DAME ADDENDUM: Because some late night commenters mentioned the Irish, I’ll include what I commented about them: As Michael Scott says, I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little “stitious,” so I took out the line about Notre Dame which was originally in the Georgia paragraph b/c that Notre Dame (3-9 all time) record and 0-2 against UGA last year scare me.

The emerging rivalry with Georgia feels even more intense than Nebraska or Notre Dame once did. There’s been fanbase hostility, recruiting battles, and coaching pettiness, especially at SEC Media Days. Texas is the new kid on the SEC block, aiming to knock Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs off their corner.

However, the Longhorns learned (twice) last year a lesson made famous by Omar Little in The Wire: “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

Texas has used its new regional footprint to its advantage. Sark has landed Justus Terry, Tyler Atkinson and James Johnson right out from under Smart’s nose. Clearly irritated, Smart took a shot in Atlanta, saying, “We sell relationships over transactions.”

Rich, coming from the coach of a program with 27 arrests.

But recruiting wins only go so far. Texas and Arch Manning need to get revenge on the field when they head to Athens this November, or the rivalry remains one-sided where it counts.

PS – I’ve always thought LSU should be at least in this tier, if not above. But the rivalry has never taken off, largely because the two teams rarely meet on the field.

Tier Three: Dinner Table Contempt

When Texas and Oklahoma announced they were leaving for the SEC, it was the first time Texas had a full-on rivalry with an entire conference. The Longhorns finally said out loud what they’d long felt—and the rest of the Big 12 finally said what they’d long wanted to. The relationship with Texas Tech seemed to embody the whole saga.

The Big 12 got the first laugh when Texas went 5–7 in 2021, but the Longhorns got the last word. They pillaged their old conference mates on the way out, beating every member of “the Hateful Eight” in their final matchups. The 50–7 drubbing of Texas Tech and the booing of Brett Yormark on the Big 12 Championship stage in 2023 were two of the sweetest forms of revenge Texas fans may ever taste.

Tier Four: Pro Wrestling Alliances

Paul Wadlington posted a poll on Inside Texas yesterday asking where fans align in some of college football’s greatest rivalries. If the CFB world devolved into World War I–style alliances or nWo vs. WCW factions, two camps would be clear: Texas, Michigan, USC, Florida, and Alabama on one side. Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, and Auburn on the other. These schools and their fanbases just go together, while the teams on the other side of the fence are their clear opposites. So, Texas fan: why do you hate Ohio State so-so much? Because you’re hardwired for it to be so. You hate the Sooners, therefore, transitive property, you get it.

In this fictional royal rumble, the service academies would wash their hands of such pettiness while certain surprising teams like LSU would get left out of the fracas.

And Texas A&M? They’d be left ringside like Disco Inferno, begging to be let into a faction and getting denied with a steel chair to the back.

Tier Five: The Thorns in Bevo’s Hide.

Bill Snyder and Kansas State won seven of their first nine games against Texas in the Big 12. Then Gary Patterson and TCU picked up the purple cape and haunted Texas for years. Baylor under Art Briles—and even Iowa State—flirted with becoming regular spoilers of the Longhorns’ best-laid plans.

Did the rivalries ever truly spill over to the fanbases? Not really. It was just incredibly annoying to lose to those teams a whole bunch. They were thorns in Bevo’s hide.

Special shout out from the depths of my shame goes to BYU, Taysom Hill and the Maryland Terrapins. Ugh.

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How would you rank the Longhorns seasonal rivals?