Brent Venables says move to SEC won't change 'hate-filled' rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas

Down in Dallas, TX at SEC Media Days, Texas and Oklahoma are all of the talk as the 2024 season gets underway, and Sooner head coach Brent Venables had plenty of questions to field on the new era for both the schools and the conference.

One question directed towards Venables during his time at the podium centered around the Texas rivalry. A reporter asked if the move to play in a conference full of powerhouse programs will take a toll on the OU-Texas rivalry. Venables certainly doesn’t see that being the case and answered:

“I don’t. It’s as deep-seated and hate-filled and emotional of a rivalry as there is in all of college football. So I don’t see how the conference affiliation will make a big difference.”

Well, there you have it straight from the Oklahoma coach, that the Texas rivalry is still as meaningful as ever, and he suspects it will remain that way regardless of the SEC transition. However, he does admit that special attention can’t be paid to Texas in comparison to the other tremendous SEC foes OU will face.

“What I will say is that, you know, that’s one of many games where you’re going to have to find a way to grind it out,” Venables continued. “If you think that one is emotionally taxing, you’re going to go into a lot of venues where the pageantry is going to be real, the stadiums are going to be completely full, and a lot of people are going to hate your guts for three hours or so.”

But, while every game on the SEC schedule presents its own challenge, Brent Venables knows that the Texas game provides that extra emotional edge for the Sooner fans: “I don’t see it changing that series and the emotion, the pageantry, the intensity whatsoever.”

Venables has great respect for the conference Oklahoma just joined. He just views Texas and OU as a new part of what has long been the strongest sports conference in the country.

“We both have elite-level success with all of our athletic programs, certainly football included, and I just think it fortifies what was already the strongest conference in all of football,” the Sooner head coach said of Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC.

The rivalry will remain strong, per Venables, no matter which conference these two schools are in.