Kirk Herbstreit says 'everything's on the line' in Oklahoma-Texas game this year

It may be early in the morning, but Oklahoma and Texas are preparing to do battle at 11 a.m. local time in what could be the most important game of the season for both programs, according to Kirk Herbstreit.

He joined SportsCenter at roughly 7:30 a.m. central time live from ESPN’s College GameDay set in Dallas to discuss this year’s edition of the Red River Showdown. Despite a home game for the Longhorns, he expressed on SportsCenter just how impressed he was at the crowd from both fanbases already.

“This is a great collection of what this game is about right here,” Herbstreit said as he turned and motioned his hand toward the crowd, complimenting the Oklahoma fans for making a strong showing at the GameDay set.

“I mean, usually we do GameDay and it’s just a sea of burnt orange,” he continued. “But here, we can see Oklahoma is here. It’s very representative, I think, of the day, the sea around College GameDay before we move onto the field in the second half of this show.”

Kirk Herbstreit was asked during his SC spot just how how much this game means given that both clubs are off to terrific starts this season.

“So that’s what this means is… both teams are looking at winning a national championship, both teams are thinking about winning the Big 12, both teams have these massive goals that are reality,” explained Herbstreit, which hasn’t always been the case.

“Sometimes you come to Dallas for this game and there’s one team that’s obvious, the team that everyone’s talking about and not the other,” he added.

But this season, both programs have big picture goals in their purview.

“This year, what’s great about it, what has you fired up — look at those records. 5-0 vs. 5-0, everything on the line, and it’s great that it’s not subjective, it’s great that this is a rivalry game. It’s gonna be decided on the field. Who’s the better team for 60 minutes? THAT team continues on with those dreams.”

The stakes are always high with the Red River Rivalry, but especially so with a pair of teams who are a combined 10-0 entering the game. Texas obviously has that win over Alabama to hang their hat on and enter as the higher-ranked team, while Oklahoma is facing their biggest test yet after they beat up on SMU, Cincinnati and Iowa State so far.