Professor Carlson did a lot of SEC profile homework to prepare the Longhorn Nation for the Fall 2024 football season.
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Location: Tuscaloosa
Enrollment: 32,458
Most recent national title: 2020
Most recent conference title: 2023
Old School football icons: Bear Bryant, Lee Roy Jordan, Joe Namath, Johnny Musso, John Hannah
More pigskin royalty: Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, Tua Tagovailoa, DeVonta Smith, Bryce Young
On mic/camera: Rece Davis, Mel Allen
TV: Jim "Gomer" Nabors, Sela Ward
Bestseller list: Harper Lee, Gay Talese
Party king: Ken Stabler
Unlikely ex: Timothy Leary
Series vs. Texas: Horns lead, 8-2-1
Notable: DKR was 2-0-1 vs Bear at Bama...UT beat Tide (21-17 in Orange Bowl) after Bama had already won '64 natty...Nick Saban took his first Bama championship when Colt McCoy got the cold shoulder early on in the '09 title fight... Teams traded road wins the past two seasons.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
Location: Fayetteville
Enrollment: 26,269
Most recent national title: 1964
Most recent conference title: 1989 (SWC)
Old school football icons: Lance Alworth, Dan Hampton, Billy Ray Smith, Chuck Dicus
More pigskin royalty: Jerry Jones, Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson, Fred Akers, Darren McFadden
On mic/camera – Pat Summerall
Sing along with: Charlie Rich
Series vs. Texas: UT leads, 56-23
Notable: Hogs have won 4 of 6 against UT since UA left SWC...Hogs prevented Horns from winning back-to-back natties when they got a one-point road win in '64 and went on to their lone national title...Texas, of course, got it's own one-point road win five years later in The Big Shootout of '69, cementing their second national championship...DKR won 9 of last ten matchups against his good friend, Frank Broyles...The 'shine will be flowing in the Ozarks when UT comes calling in November.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY TIGERS
Location: Auburn, AL
Enrollment: 25,379
Last national title: 2010
Last conference title: 2013
Old school football icons: Bo Jackson, Pat Sullivan
More pigskin royalty: Cam Newton, Tracy Rocker, Terry Beasley
On mic/camera: Charles Barkley
Sing along with: Lionel Richie, Bobby Goldsboro
Son of a beach ex-student: Jimmy Buffett
Series vs. Texas: UT leads, 5-3
Notable: Tigers have won last two ('87,'91)...Texas registered big, back-to-back victories in '83 and '84 against Bo Jackson's team, with UT All-American Jerry Gray memorably chasing him down after a 53-yard run in the Horns' 35-27 victory in Austin in September '84. It was a key play that helped save the win, separating Bo's shoulder in the process.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GATORS
Location: Gainesville
Enrollment: 34,552
Last national title: 2008
Last conference title: 2008
Old school football icons: Steve Spurrier, Emmitt Smith, Jack Youngblood
More pigskin royalty: Tim Tebow, Fred Taylor, Danny Wuerffel
On mic/camera: Cris Collinsworth, Jesse Palmer, Chris Doering, Laura Rutledge
Sing along with: Mel Tillis, Johnny Tillotson
Weeeee-doggies: Buddy Ebsen
Class clown ex-student: Darrell Hammond, Saturday Night Live
Bonus track: Tom Petty was a Gainesville boy...didn't attend UF but revered at The Swamp
Series vs. Texas: Texas leads, 2-1-1
Notable: The teams tied, 7-7, in their first matchup, one hundred years ago. Texas pitched shutouts against Florida in the last two fights in '39-'40. So it's been a minute.
The Horns get the Gators at home in early November.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA BULLDOGS
Location: Athens
Enrollment: 30,714
Last national title: 2022
Last conference title: 2022
Old School football icons: Herschel Walker, Fran Tarkenton, Bill Stanfill
More pigskin royalty: Champ Bailey, Nick Chubb, Stetson Bennett, Brock Bowers
On mic/camera: Deborah Norville, Ernie Johnson, Jr, David Pollack
Sing along with: Trisha Yearwood
Swing along with: Bubba Watson
Series vs. UT: Texas leads 4-1
Notable: The Dawgs' lone win marks a dark day in 'Horn history, the 10-9 Cotton Bowl verdict that ruined a perfect '83 season and a shot at the national crown....Texas upset Georgia in the most recent battle, the Sugar Bowl wrapping up the '18 season. This year's scheduled Oct. 19 duel in Austin is the national media's most hyped heavyweight bout.
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Location: Lexington
Enrollment: 22,735
Last national title: N/A
Last conference title: 1950
Old school football icons: George Blanda, Babe Parilli
More pigskin royalty: Tim Couch, Jim Kovach, Randall Cobb
Hoop legends: Pat Riley, Anthony Davis, Jamal Mashburn
Hollywood connections: Ashley Judd, Harry Dean Stanton
Series vs. UT: Texas leads, 1-0
Notable: The Longhorns opened the Ed Price coaching era in '51 by upsetting the sixth-ranked Wildcats in Austin, 7-6. Kentucky's coach? Bear Bryant.
Texas' roster featured stalwarts Bobby Dillon, Byron Townsend, Harley Sewell and a soph named Pete Gardere. The series resumes Nov. 23 at DKR-TMM.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY TIGERS
Location: Baton Rouge
Enrollment: 30,952
Last national title: 2019
Last conference title: 2019
Old school football icons: Billy Cannon, YA Tittle, Jim Taylor, Bert Jones, Tommy Casanova
More pigskin royalty: Joe Burrow, Leonard Fournette, Odell Beckham, Jr,, Tyrann Mathieu
Hoop legends: Pistol Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal
On mic/camera: Booger McFarland, Marcus Spears
Hollywood connection: Joanne Woodward
Player-turned-author: John Ed Bradley
Sing along with: Stephen Stills
Series vs. UT: Texas leads, 9-8-1
Notable: The flagships of neighboring states have rarely faced off in the modern era.
LSU ruined UT's first unbeaten (9-0-1) season ('62) with a 13-0 Cotton Bowl win.
Forty years later, in another Cotton Bowl game, Texas rolled, 35-20, behind Offensive MVP Roy Williams. He turned four catches into 142 yards and also scored on a 39-yard end-around to close QB Chris Simms' UT career in style....The most recent game was an epic fight at DKR five seasons ago. Texas fans will always lament a dropped pass in the end zone and a late defensive whiff on 3rd and 17 for Joe Burrow and the Bayou Bengals. The burnt orange just missed on an onside kick and LSU prevailed, 45-38.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI REBELS
Location: Oxford
Enrollment: 17,302
Last national title: 1962
Last conference title: 1963
Old school football icons: Charlie Conerly, Bruiser Kinard, Jake Gibbs, Patrick Willis
Absolute pigskin royalty: Archie Manning, Cooper Manning, Eli Manning, Deuce McAllister
On mic/camera: Ron Franklin
Hollywood connections: Kate Jackson, Gerald McRaney
Bestseller list: William Faulkner, John Grisham (Ole Miss Law School)
Series vs. UT: Texas leads 6-2
Notable: The Rebs and Horns split blowout wins just over a decade ago, in 2012-13.
Ole Miss drummed Darrell Royal's first UT team, 39-7, in the Sugar Bowl but Royal got his first bowl win, a 12-7 defensive classic in the Cotton following the '61 season. DKR's '66 team shut out the Rebels, 19-0 in the Bluebonnet Bowl, behind a 1-2 -3 punch of Bill Bradley, Chris Gilbert and a stifling defense.
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS
Location: Starkville
Enrollment: 18,305
Last national title: N/A
Last conference title: 1941
Old school football icons: DD Lewis, Johnnie Cooks
More pigskin royalty: Dak Prescott, John Bond, Will Rogers
Baseball legends: Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro
At the bookstore: John Grisham, B.S. Accounting, '77
Series vs. UT: Knotted, 2-2
Notable: Bulldog coach and UT nemesis Jackie Sherrill treated his squad to the castration of a bull as the '92 game in Austin approached. MSU bullied John Mackovic's first Longhorn squad, 28-10...
Mack Brown's inaugural season at Texas was capped off by a 38-11 thumping of the Bulldogs in the Cotton Bowl Classic that closed out Ricky Williams' college career and QB Major Applewhite's stellar freshman year... Texas will be favored to break the series record's tie when the Steers host MSU on Sept. 28.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI TIGERS
Location: Columbia
Enrollment: 23,745
Last national title: N/A
Last conference title: 1969 (Big 8)
Old school football icons: Roger Wehrli, Johnny Roland, Kellen Winslow
More pigskin royalty: Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin
Hollywood connections: Brad Pitt, Jon Hamm, Kate Capshaw, George C Scott
Sing along with: Sheryl Crow
Newly crowned college baseball coaching king: Tony Vitello
Playwright nobility: Tennessee Williams
Series vs. UT: Texas leads, 18-6
Notable: Longhorn immortal Bobby Layne had a hand or foot in every UT point when he led Texas to a classic 40-27 Cotton Bowl triumph in 1946. Layne passed for two TDs, ran for three, caught a 50-yard touchdown bomb and kicked four PAT's....Texas' best showing against Mizzou during their Big XII days came in 2008. The eleventh-ranked Tigers rode into Austin behind star QB Chase Daniels, intent upon upsetting top-ranked UT. But Colt McCoy (29-32, 337 yards) was at his best and the Longhorns zipped to a 35-0 first half lead en route to a 56-31 cruise.
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA SOONERS
Location: Norman
Enrollment: 21,294
Last national title: 2000
Last conference title: 2020
Old school football icons: Darrell Royal, Ralph Neely, Steve Owens, Greg Pruitt, Billy Sims
More pigskin royalty: Selmon Bros, Joe Washington,Josh Heupel, Adrian Peterson, Sam Bradford
Dr Pepper Sheriff: Brian Bosworth
Wrestle Mania: Wahoo McDaniel
Hollywood connections: James Garner, Dennis Weaver
Series vs. UT: Texas leads, 61-53-5
Notable: OU has dominated the series this century, winning 17 of 25...UT posted an all-time ass-whipping, 49-0, two years ago.... But last season's failures – no punch at all with first and goal, then a matador defense in the final seconds – spoiled what could have been a perfect regular season for the Horns. Circle the date: Oct 12. Kickoff comes at 2:30, providing time for fans to endure the obligatory long lines at the Fletcher's Corny Dog stand... The Horns cannot afford to think ahead to the following week's marquee date with Georgia.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
Location: Columbia
Enrollment: 27,343
Last national title: N/A
Last conference title: 1969 (ACC)
Old school football icons: Dan Reeves, George Rogers, Sterling Sharpe
More pigskin royalty: Stephon Gilmore, Jadeveon Clowney
Hoops legends: Alex English, John Roche, Sindarius Thornwell
On mic/camera: Ainsley Earhardt, Leeza Gibbons
Sing along with: Darius Rucker and members of Hootie & The Blowfish
He wrote "Deliverance": James Dickey
Motivation at halftime: Zig Ziglar
Series vs. UT: USC leads, 1-0
Notable: The only time the teams have played each other, Americans liked Ike, and Elvis was rockin'. It was 1957 and Darrell Royal's first Longhorn team was 2-0 in but the visiting Gamecocks overcame a 13-point fourth quarter deficit with three touchdowns to dust UT, 27-21...When the series resumes at last, Texas fans can look forward to checking out Columbia's Cockaboose Railroad and the traditional "2001: A Space Odyssey" entrance by Carolina's players.
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
Location: Knoxville
Enrollment: 27,039
Last national title: 1998
Last conference title: 1998
Old school football icons: Johnny Majors, Willie Gault, Steve Kiner
Absolute pigskin royalty: Peyton Manning, Reggie White, Jason Witten
Baseball legend: Phil Garner
On mic/camera: Paul Finebaum
Bestseller list: Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy
Potential NIL Financial Advisor: Dave Ramsey
Series vs. Texas: Longhorns lead, 2-1
Notable: There haven't been many opportunities to settle the "Who's the real UT" debate.
The Horns and Vols split two early '50s meetings...And it's been more than a half-century since the most recent bash. That was the Longhorns first wishbone season and the 36-13 stomping of Tennessee was the Steers' ninth straight win, en route to 30. James Street hit Cotton Speyrer with bombs of 78 and 79 yards and Tom Campbell spearheaded the defense...The Vols have yet to visit Austin and the Horns haven't set foot in Knoxville because all previous battles were in Dallas.
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY AGGIES
Location: College Station
Enrollment: 57,512
Last national title: 1939
Last conference title: 1998 (Big XII)
Old school football icons: John David Crow, Gene Stallings, Billy Hobbs
More pigskin royalty: Ed Simonini, Darren Lewis, Kevin Murray, Dat Nguyen
Politicos: Rick Perry, Will Hurd
Sing along with: Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen
Eager Beaver: Arch Aplin III, founder of Buc-ee's
Portable party for rent: Johnny Manziel
The series vs. UT: Texas leads, 76-37-5
Notable: College Station packed 'em in for George Strait recently, but that was just a warm-up for the crowds eager for the Longhorns and Aggies to resume the rivalry on Nov. 30.
This season's players were in kindergarten or early elementary school when Texas claimed bragging rights that have haunted Aggies ever since 2011.
Just mention these two names if you really want to make maroon blood boil:
Justin Tucker...Jim Schlossnagle.
But remember: The ags poached wishbone coaching wizard Emory Bellard back in '72. He lifted A&M from the SWC cellar to contending for titles.
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY COMMODORES
Location: Nashville
Enrollment: 7,151
Last national title: N/A
Last conference title: 1923 (Southern Conference)
Old school football icons: Bill Wade, Pat Toomay
More pigskin royalty: Jay Cutler, Jordan Matthews
MLB All-Stars: Dansby Swanson, Sonny Gray, Bryan Reynolds
On mic/camera: Skip Bayless
Sing along with: Dinah Shore, Amy Grant
Bestseller list: James Patterson
Goodtime ex-student: Bettie Page, pin-up girl
Series vs. UT: Vandy leads, 8-3-1
Notable: President Calvin Coolidge often amused himself by using binoculars from his White House rocking chair, checking assorted license plates from all 48 states...and, yep, he was reading the sports page back in 1928, the last time the Horns and Commodores hooked up. Vandy took a squeaker, 13-12 at Fair Park Stadium in Dallas that October....It's going to be a while before UT can take a lead in this series. The quest begins in Nashville on Oct. 26, and the Longhorns might need the road trip and some hot chicken, following a two-week diet of OU and Georgia.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LONGHORNS
Location: Austin
Enrollment: 53,082
Last national title: 2005
Last conference title: 2023 (Big XII)
Old school football icons: Bobby Layne, Tommy Nobis, James Street, Earl Campbell
More pigskin royalty: Vince Young, Jimmy Saxton, Steve Worster, Roosevelt Leaks, Ricky Williams, Derrick Johnson, Cedric Benson, Colt McCoy, Bijan Robinson
On mic/camera: Walter Cronkite, Brian Jones, Sam Acho, Chris Simms, Fpzzy Whittaker
Hollywood connections: Fess Parker, Eli Wallach, Jon Hamm, Matthew McConaughey
And the Password is... Allen Ludden (Phi Beta Kappa, '40; M.A., English '41)
Dream girl: Farrah Fawcett
Fly Me To The Moon: Alan Bean
Sing along with: Janis Joplin, Steve Miller
Swing along with: Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Leonard, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite
Producers/Directors: Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez
Bombshell ex-student: Jayne Mansfield
Late great Renaissance Man: Kinky Friedman
May the 4's be with you: Quinn Ewers
Guest picker: Willie Nelson didn't matriculate at UT but was a close bud of Darrell Royal and regularly played guitar for DKR's players and coaches. Always rode on the team bus to the Cotton Bowl when the Horns played OU or SMU. Hey, long before the formation got so popular, the former Abbott Panther was known as "Shotgun Wille." And when the Longhorns start traveling to far flung, uncharted SEC destinations, just cue up "On the Road Again."
(TLSN's Larry Carlson teaches sports media classes at Texas State University. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and lives in San Antonio.)
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