Red River Rivalry returns as the name for the Texas-Oklahoma football matchup

DALLAS (AP) — The Red River Rivalry is back.

The name, that is. The game itself never went anywhere.

Allstate was announced Monday as the new title sponsor of the Texas-Oklahoma football matchup played every year at the Cotton Bowl amid the Texas State Fair in Dallas.

And with it comes the return of the “Red River Rivalry” nickname for the game, ditching the unpopular “Red River Showdown” used since 2014. The game was long known as the Red River Shootout before being changed to the Red River Rivalry in 2005.

The rivalry dates to 1900 and this year’s meeting on Oct. 7 will be the 119th matchup between the Longhorns and Sooners. It will be the last for both schools as members of the Big 12. Texas and Oklahoma move to the Southeastern Conference starting in 2024.

This year’s Allstate Red River Rivalry will be broadcast on ABC. Texas lead the series 63-50-5.

“Our annual, iconic matchup with the Longhorns each October features more than a century of tradition between our two programs, so it’s fitting that we revive the ‘Rivalry’ name,” Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione said.