Sam Acho “Red River Rivalry is better than the Iron Bowl”

Sam Acho believes  “Red River Rivalry is better than the Iron Bowl. Cole and Andrew go over some of the best college football rivalries and where they rank compared to the Red River Rivalry. 

Episode Transcript

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All right, So SEC Media Dayshave come and gone. We missed them
in Dallas, but Craig Way,Cama Parker, and Mike Cars they didn't
miss them, and they're posting aboutit right now on social media as well.
Make sure you go over and followAM thirteen hundred zone on social media,
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(00:21):
the know. We sometimes post ourlinks, actually not sometimes all the time,
we post our links over there soyou don't miss a live show.
And as the Tailgate Show starts upthis fall, you're going to want to
make sure that you see Cam andHart's. They are going to do an
incredible job. I'm really pumped.It's gonna be fun. You're one of
the SEC well, SEC Media Daycomes and goes, and because it is

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the media spectacle and because the SECnetwork is going to do what the SEC
network does, you sometimes get sometakes that they don't might be a little
bit out there, maybe what ILight's called half big takes of my friends
do these where they've been thinking aboutthis but they haven't really verbalized it yet.
Now, Sam Ancho, super smartguy, he came up with a

(01:08):
take that ruffled a ton of feathersfor SEC fans. So this is cut
number four. Cole sam Ancho talkingabout the Red River rivalry and what game
he takes over that one in theSEC. And that's the thing. The
difference between the Texas OU game,the Red River Rivalry and I would argue
the Iron Bowl is that one isan intra state rivalry right inside one state.

(01:33):
The other one expands past one stateright neutral site game I think matters.
Neutral site in Dallas, Texas onhundred ninety seven miles from Austin,
one hundred and ninety miles from Norman, right down the middle. And not
only do both teams travel right downthe middle, but the stadium is split
right down the middle. I've playedin that game four years. It's literally
at the fifty yard line, allyou see is crimson and cream one way.

(01:53):
At the fifty yard line. Goingthe other way, it's all burnt
orange and white. And so thestadium it's this interesting dichotomy of of passion
and fear, of anger and joyand then all of a sudden, this
game always means something. Look atlast year Texas went to the College Football
Playoff, actually lost to Oklahoma inthe Red River rivalry. I think about
other games and other quote unquote rivalrieswhere they've been very much one sided.

(02:16):
This game means something year in year. I'll go back a decade ago when,
yes, when Auburn. Auburn hada lot of success a decade ago.
But even Texas Oklahoma, who's numberone, who's number two? That
game always means something. And sofor me, I think about that rivalry.
Yes, you add all It's notlike you need all the other trinkers,
right, all the fried food andthe state Fair. But that's something
that everyone in the state of Texaslooks forward to think about it. All

(02:38):
these guys getting recruited by the sameschools. Either I'm going to go to
Texas Oklahoma. We heard it fromsome of the coaches. Man, that's
who we're fighting against. Mike Gelkoeven said it a in m A that's
who we're fighting against, Texas andOklahoma. And so these are the players
who know each other. They grewup together, they played against each other
in high school, they grew upgoing to the Texas State Fair watching the
game and then going to the fairgroundsafter the game. And now they get

(02:59):
a chance playing the games. Putright down the middle, the passion,
the energy. Whoever wins that game, I could get, at least in
the past, was going to bea Big Twelve champion, maybe go to
a national championship. Now that samerivalry, the passion, the pageantry is
now moving to the SEC. Ithink it's one of the best. It's
not the best rivalry in all ofcollege sports. Random, Okay, so
let's play the devil's advocate here.Let's say, yeah, you're right,

(03:22):
the Red River rivalry is the bestgame in college sports. Right. Forget
about the Iron Bowl, forget aboutthe game with Michigan and Ohio State,
forget about all these as the numberone the premier rivalry in college football.
I can get behind that. Asa Longhorn fan, I can see a
way that we kind of shift andtwist it and look, there have been

(03:46):
some absolutely incredible games between Texas andOklahoma, and yes there have been in
the past decade. It has beenessentially the winner of that game will go
on to win the Big Twelve.Yeah, that makes sense. But here's
where I have a little bit ofan issue. I'm tormented inside because you're

(04:09):
correct. The last time that Alabamaand Auburn both played when those two teams
played and they were both ranked inthe top twenty five, it was four
years ago. It was in twentytwenty. It was a weird season.
Alabama number one team in the country. Alburn was number twenty two, and
Alabama absolutely ran away with a gameforty two thirteen. And then you go

(04:30):
back and you look over the lastdecade, last ten years, Alabama has
dominated. They've won eight of thelast ten times these two teams have played.
The last time that Alburn won theIron Bowl, they were a sixteen
seed, I should say, sixteenthteam in the country. They beat Alabama
by three in Tuscaloosa, forty eightto forty five. Okay, so I

(04:55):
can get behind this. I seewhere we're coming with with this. But
at the same time, the mosticonic college football play, maybe ever,
but at least in the last twentyyears, comes from the Iron Bowl.
The kick six. And look,like I said, there's been a ton

(05:17):
a ton of excellent moments. Ithink about Sam Ellinger putting on the Golden
Cowboy. Can I think about BakerMayfield on the other side of the things.
I think about last year's game whereit was back and forth and it
was the game, and you throwall the record books out, and you
throw all of the standing and theexpectations, and it's just the Red River

(05:41):
rivalry. I understand that. ButI'm given the Iron Bowl a slight edge
here because granted Alabama has dominated thatrivalry. It's very one side all time
fifty thirty seven and one. ButI'm going with the game that I truly

(06:01):
know is going to like I trulyknow is going to be an excellent game.
Like I know the Alabama and Auburnin the Iron Bowl that it truly
does not matter that if Alabama's numberone team in the country, Auburn can
still upset them and we still canget these iconic moments. Now, Cole
coming, you're a transplant, comingfrom the West Coast, keeping up with

(06:23):
college football, living in Austin,now, keeping up with the Longhorns.
Am I off base here when Isay that I'm giving the slight edge to
the Iron Bowl over the Red Riverrivalry? Is it wrong? No?
I see where you're coming from.But when a comment like that, when
Sam mentions that, I think ofthe perspective of the casual fan living,

(06:45):
I don't know. And wherever notthe huge the biggest college football fan.
But off the top of my headwhen college game Day or whoever it is,
like, Okay, Michigan, OhioState, that's a huge one.
Alabama, Auburn, like you said, Army Navy is big two. Let's
see who else Alabama and oh NotreDame, USC, Florida, Saint Miami,

(07:09):
ucla USC that's a big one outin the West Coast where I was
from. But there's plenty of other, you know, rivalries for the for
just the basic college fan that Ithink if you live in Texas or Oklahoma,
obviously this is a circle on yourcalendar no matter what, right like,
you're always gonna know about it.But to the casual fan like Alabama,
LSU and Death Valley, that's huge, right, so very much.

(07:31):
It very much feels like the SECis like the most regional of the conferences
now, especially when you consider whatthe Big Twelve and the Big Ten have
done. Now that we have teamsin the Big Ten going from literally coast
to coast, it should be thecoast to coast league at this point because
it's Rutgers on one side and likeWashington on the other. Okay, so

(07:53):
they've spread themselves out to the pointwhere they don't really have any regionality.
The Big Twelve again, it's likealmost like a coast to coast league,
going all the way to Arizona toUCF and Florida. Right, But I
look at the SEC is very regionalized. All of these teams are in the
Southeast via the Southeastern Conference name.But it feels like they're trying to take

(08:16):
a regional brand and make it national. It feels like they want to be
this and maybe they are a nationalbrand at this point. Do you think
that having these type of rivalry games, if the SEC now has the Egg
Bowl, the Iron Bowl, theRed River Rivalry, the Lone Star Game
between Texas and A and M,and now like they have the most impactful

(08:41):
rivalry games, do you think thatthat helps the SEC become like a more
national brand or in a bigger brandthan they even were before Texas Oklahoma came
to the conference. Oh, withouta doubt. I mean Texas and Oklahoma
both bring in the hype going intothe SEC and what we've seen with the
Big twelve or sorry with the Packtwelve kind of getting this in. You

(09:01):
know, it's no more. Butthe United States loves their football. They
love football. So the more footballthey can get, and the more storylines,
the more drama, the more rivalrieswe can get, We're gonna eat
it up without a doubt. Soyeah, I mean, I'd say the
SEC is one step below the NFL. It's it's that thing. It's that
important. Like I like that.Take the USFL can take a seat on

(09:26):
the curb, SEC NFL junior.I love that all right. When we
come back, Nick Samon gets hisname on a field coaches pole, or
the im Media preseason poll is out, where do the Longhorns rank? Will
have that, all that and moreon The Craigway Show right here on sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone