Alabama at Texas: Coach Sark Chance - Longhorns All-Time Biggest Upset?

If Texas somehow wins, it will be its biggest point-spread upset since beating Baylor as a 20.5-underdog in 2015.

There was a time when getting 20 points at home with the Texas Longhorns was unheard of and – if it ever happened – a slam-dunk gambling winner.

That time is not Saturday.

The Longhorns and the visiting powerhouse from Alabama, set to kick off Saturday at 11 am, have spent the week exchanging pleasantries on an even basis.

Crimson Time coach Nick Saban, maybe the best in the business, is lauding Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson for being maybe the best in the business.

"He can do everything,'' Saban said.

Meanwhile, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is lauding Saban for saving his career, helping to launch "Coach Sark'' into a major Texas turnaround.

"I would not be the head coach at Texas if it weren't for Nick Saban," Sarkisian said in a recent interview. "He gave me a chance when I had a hard time getting an interview, never mind a job. ... But Coach Saban took a chance on me when I needed somebody to believe in me again."

Compliment for compliment.

Tit for tat.

But that's about all that is "even'' about this matchup.

Since at least 1975 – at which point I admit, I got tired of researching – Texas has never been bigger than a two-touchdown underdog at home. That was in 2014 when they lost to Baylor, 28-7, as a 14-point dog. 

But now comes Alabama, rolling into Austin with more talent, a better coach and a distinctly superior quarterback in Bryce Young - which by the way, is not exactly an insult to Quinn Ewers.

If Texas somehow wins, it will be its biggest point-spread upset since beating Baylor as a 20.5-underdog in 2015. The Longhorns also shocked No. 3-ranked Nebraska as a 20.5-point dog in the 1996 Big 12 Championship Game. 

But considering where the Crimson Tide has been recently and where most experts believe they are headed again come January, this would be THE biggest upset in Texas history.

For what it’s worth, Nick Saban’s teams are 10-5 against the spread as 20+-plus road favorites.

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