Texas announces sellout for highly-anticipated Alabama showdown

Kickoff may be at 11 a.m. but fans are still excited about Texas hosting Alabama in what should be one of the season’s most anticipated matchups. Head coach Nick Saban will be in Austin to go up against another one of his former assistant coaches, Steve Sarkisian. Everybody, especially Longhorn fans, is counting down the days until Sept. 10.

In fact, Texas announced the game is officially sold out, meaning over 100,000 will back into Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. A program used to hosting big-time opponents, the atmosphere will be rocking for the Crimson Tide.

Texas vs Alabama is officially SOLD OUT! See you in DKR 🤘 pic.twitter.com/G4PVrsHq0T

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) June 15, 2022

Alabama will be making their first true nonconference road trip since 2011 when they traveled up to Penn State. However, this matchup will soon enough become a bi-annual SEC shown, when Texas joins the conference in 2025.

The attendance record at DKR came back in 2018 when USC came to Austin for another highly-anticipated showdown. However, the two faced off during the night time and the hot Texas sun was not belting down on fans. It will be a challenge for the Texas faithful to break that record on Sept. 10.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian discusses 11 a.m. kickoff for Alabama

Details surrounding the Alabama-Texas game were recently released, with FOX announcing they will have the broadcast. Even though it’s viewed as one of the top nonconference matchups of the season, FOX still wants to place the game in their Big Noon Kickoff window.

Before the official announcement was made, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian commented on the possibility of having the early kickoff. However, did not seem too bothered. He said no matter when television networks schedule their games, Texas will go out there and play.

“We have a saying in our building,” Sarkisian said at the Touchdown Club of Houston. “Just spot the ball. Just spot the ball and we’ll play.”

When looking at the rest of the slate in college football on Sept. 10, there is not really a matchup that compares as far as brand names go. Even though FOX could most likely broadcast the game at whatever time they please and still see huge ratings, 12 p.m. ET has been their timeslot over the past few seasons.