Breaking down the Oklahoma and Texas rosters as recruits ahead of the Red River Showdown

The Red River Rivalry is back, and after a few lean years for both Texas and Oklahoma, this one is shaping up to be a major battle in Dallas. Both teams come into the game undefeated and with hopes of a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff berth still on the line.

Coming off of last year’s 49-0 drubbing that Texas gave its arch rivals, the folks in Norman are looking for a bit of revenge before both of these teams head to the SEC next season.

With that said, we’re previewing the game from the perspective of each roster as recruits:

Texas has been amassing five-stars

When both Brent Venables and Steve Sarkisian took over their respective programs, they needed to upgrade the talent across the board. Nowhere was that more apparent than at the top, where both were severely lacking in the kind of elite, five-star talent that will be necessary to compete in the SEC. Sarkisian has a year head-start on Venables and has had the chance to rebuild Texas’ roster from the inside out.

The Longhorns have eight five-stars on the roster, including two former No. 1 quarterback recruits with Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning. Two years ago, the Longhorns had just three former five-stars on the roster total. That means UT’s stars are young, but they are expected to play significant roles on Saturday.

2023 five-star CJ Baxter is the team’s second-leading rusher, and 2022 five-stars DJ Campbell and Kelvin Banks will be blocking for him along the offensive line. Ewers and Ja’Tavion Sanders will look to hook up for some big plays like they did last year, while 2023 five-star LB Anthony Hill has made a big impression early by notching the fourth-most tackles on the team through five games.

For the Sooners, the mass exodus of recruits that followed Lincoln Riley’s departure has made things a bit more challenging for Venables. The Sooners have three former five-stars on the roster, all of whom signed in the 2023 class. Quarterback Jackson Arnold is No. 2 on the depth chart behind Dillon Gabriel, but EDGE Adepoju Adebawore and safety Peyton Bowen have made their presence known early this season. Bowen is the fourth-leading tackler on the team, and Adebawore has notched a handful of pressures and sacks.

Teams are nearly dead-even when it comes to blue-chip recruits

Looking at the rest of their rosters, the teams are about as evenly matched as it comes. The Longhorns feature 18 players who were formerly ranked as top-100 recruits, while the Sooners have 13.

Of the 85 scholarship players on Texas’ roster, 52 (61%) are former blue-chippers, or players who ranked as a 4- or 5-star recruit coming out of high school. For the Sooners, that number is 54 (63%).

Oklahoma’s 51 four-stars outpaces Texas’ 44 as well, and Venables is a major reason for that. Despite taking over the job in December 2021, he landed 17 blue-chippers in the 2022 cycle and then followed that with 15 more in 2023. In Sarkisian’s first three classes, the Longhorns have signed 49 blue-chippers, which in addition to transfer portal additions, has helped to almost entirely turn the roster over from the previous regime.

And while a year ago Texas looked to be at the major talent advantage, the teams on paper this year look to be much more even. Now we’ll see how that plays out Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.