Red River Rivals Split Big 12 Regular Season Title
It’s been since 2009 since Oklahoma has won a Big 12 regular season championship. It’s been since 2003 since Texas has won a Big 12 regular season championship. The two bitter Red River rivals both did so once again Saturday afternoon, sharing the league title for the 2022-23 season.
It marks Oklahoma’s seventh conference crown during the regular season. It marks Texas’ 13th.
Texas swept the season series, grabbing the tiebreaker for next week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. But Oklahoma equaled its 14-4 mark to grab a piece of the hardware as well.
The Sooners (24-5) took care care of business first, downing their other major rival Oklahoma State earlier in the day in Stillwater. They came back from a small six-point deficit at halftime for an 80-71 win to sweep this season series.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” said Sooners head coach Jennie Baranczyk of her senior class that’s facilitated this run. “They won four games their freshman year in conference. It’s impressive to what are we now, 14? Fourteen, that’s a really big deal. And that’s not seen.”
The Longhorns (23-8) didn’t mess around in making sure they’d finish on top, too. They obliterated the Kansas State Wildcats 80-52 in Manhattan to leave no doubt.
“Well, just so proud of this team,” said Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer. “I’m just giving God the glory for this Big 12 Championship. I serve an incredible Lord. He has blessed me with some really, really tough, competitive young ladies. And I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Now both will travel with their hardware to Kansas City next week to try to seize another trophy. This Red River matchup will be the favorite for the championship, but plenty of action obviously stands in between now and then.
Texas opens up at 1:30 p.m. CT Friday against the winner of No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 9 Kansas State. Oklahoma will start its journey at 5 p.m. CT Friday against the winner of No. 7 Kansas and No. 10 TCU.
