Texas vs. Alabama tabbed as a ‘must-watch game’ in 2022

What is the most compelling game on the non-conference schedule for second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program this fall comes against legendary head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Texas faces Alabama at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Sep. 10.

There is only one game that Sark and the Longhorns have at the outset of the regular season slate before taking on the Crimson Tide. That obviously won’t be an easy one for Texas to take on the reigning National Champion runner-up Alabama.

Although, this game certainly comes with a lot of intrigue for multiple reasons. First and foremost, anytime two blue bloods that don’t often meet have a non-conference game on the regular season schedule, there will be a lot of eyeballs glued to that game. That is the case with Texas-Alabama.

Another big reason why there will be so many interested in this game is the fact that Texas gets to face Alabama before they eventually make the jump from the Big 12 to the SEC in the next few years. At this point, we don’t know when that will officially happen for Texas. But it still adds some spice to this game in 2022.

And one of the other major factors adding to the excitement of this game is the fact that Sark gets to take on his former employer in Saban and the Crimson Tide. Seeing if the former Alabama offensive coordinator can hang with the Crimson Tide at his new program will certainly be a fascinating aspect of this game.

Texas football vs. Alabama ranked as one of the must-see games of the 2022 season

For all of these reasons, a list from 247Sports this week mentioning the “10 must-watch games of the 2022 season” included Texas-Alabama in the rankings. Here’s more on what this piece from 247Sports had to say about including Texas-Alabama among the must-watch games for this coming season.

"The Longhorns play a number of must-watch games in 2022 if they shock the world and win this one against preseason No. 1 Alabama in Week 2. They have to do so as likely a three-touchdown underdog, however. The Crimson Tide are must-see TV next fall with arguably the nation’s two best players — Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. — carrying a loaded team with national championship expectations. The obvious money angle here is Steve Sarkisian’s chess-match against his former boss, Nick Saban."

Texas will obviously be facing an uphill battle if they want to pull the potential upset next fall of the Crimson Tide. Despite getting Alabama at home, Texas will likely still be a pretty sizable underdog in this game.

We also won’t learn too much about this Longhorns team in Sark’s second year at the helm from the regular season opener. Texas opens up the 2022 season against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Sep. 3. A ULM team that finished up last season with a record of 4-8 (2-6 Sun Belt) with no wins over ranked or Power Five opponents to speak of likely won’t be anything close to as challenging as Alabama the following weekend.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 5-7 (3-6 Big 12) following a Black Friday win in the regular season finale over the Kansas State Wildcats. That resulted in Texas missing the postseason for the first time since 2016.