Auburn football fans have been at the center of a constant stream of chatter regarding realignment and Power Five conference poaching since the SEC did the unthinkable and landed Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12.
We know that is official, but since the scuttlebutt began of the Red River Showdown making its way to the southeast there have also been talks of teams like Clemson and Florida State getting in on the action as well.
Many sites are split on such a move, but we believe Clemson and Florida State would be logical rivalries for Auburn football due to past history and geography.
Of course, we won’t hold it against OU and UT that they have a limited history against the Tigers. In fact, we figured a good way to celebrate their arrivals is figuring out which will be the best potential rivalries that result from them.
#3 best SEC rivalry from OU/UT arrivals: Texas vs. Alabama football
We start off with a rivalry that is sure to sprout quickly in the SEC is an SEC West–assuming they don’t revert to a pod arrangement–rivalry between Texas and Alabama.
The two teams last met in the 2009 National Championship game, when Nick Saban’s reign of terror over college football with the Tide began with a 37-21 victory over Mack Brown’s Longhorns. Mark Ingram ran over the Longhorns defense and Colt McCoy exited the contest early, giving Texas an insurmountable three-score deficit heading into halftime en route to the first of many National Championship game blowouts hosted by the team up north.
Considering their home-and-home series begins next year, the rivalry will get a headstart with matchups in 2022 and 2023 kicking things off.