It's a misconception to say Texas is leaving behind one conference after this season. They're actually leaving two.
Texas will leave behind relationships dating back one generation with the likes of Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State as shared members of the Big 12 since 1996. But with the in-state schools, Texas is kissing goodbye to schools it's played for more than a century.
And the first, final kiss comes on Saturday.
Texas and Baylor were both founding members of the Southwest Conference, formed in 1915, but the first Longhorns-Bears came in Waco back Oct. 29, 1901.
Baylor is UT's third-most common opponent, their 112 all-time meetings trailing only Oklahoma and Texas A&M, who have both met the Longhorns 118 times. (TCU is Baylor's most common opponent, also 118 games.)
In all actuality, Saturday night's visit to McLane Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) will be the last for Texas.
Which means Saturday night will be the first of four jihad games for Texas.
"I can't tell you how many times this offseason it's been, 'Hey Dave, just win one game please.' That's been brought up to me multiple, multiple times," Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said Tuesday. "I sense it and I know it. We're blessed to be able to do something about it."
SOLD OUT in Bear Country Saturday night ⚡️#SicEm | #ThisIsBearCountry pic.twitter.com/O6SaxeEXq5
— Baylor Athletics (@BaylorAthletics) September 20, 2023
Texas leads the all-time series 80-28-4 and enjoyed a 12-game winning streak from 1998-09. But the Longhorns hold just a 7-6 advantage since 2010 and are 2-4 in Waco, with losses in their last two, over that span.
Saturday's game sets up well for Texas on paper. The third-ranked Longhorns, led by a defense that leads the country according to ESPN's efficiency rankings, are two touchdown favorites against a Baylor offense without starting quarterback Blake Shapen that ranks 94th in the same rankings.
But Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has his own plan for Texas to compete in the battle for the psychological war.
“We’ve got to embrace the hate,” Sarkisian said in August. “You can’t just sit back and keep taking punches and it’s just okay. At some point you have to go hunt. You have to punch back and you have to fight back and that’s what we’re imploring our veterans to do, our leaders to do, is that every time we take the field our opponent’s gonna get our best shot. We may get theirs, we may not, we can’t control that, but we need to immediately be sure that they get our best shot.”
Three of Texas's four Big 12 road games this season come against SWC foes. The Longhorns go to Houston on Oct. 21 (their first visit since 2001) and to TCU on Nov. 11. The only Big 12 road game outside Texas comes on Nov. 18 at Iowa State, and the only Texas team UT does not play on the road is Texas Tech. (The Red Raiders won their farewell visit in overtime last September.) Texas's last Big 12 regular season game is against Texas Tech in Austin on Nov. 24.
Texas will get lots of best shots this season. Saturday is just the first.