The Texas Kickoff is an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season in Houston, Texas, at NRG Stadium. The game was sponsored by Advocare from 2013 to 2019 and known officially as the Advocare Texas Kickoff and by Good Sam in 2021 as the Good Sam Texas Kickoff. Due to flooding in Houston from Hurricane Harvey, the 2017 game was relocated to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (now Caesars Superdome) in New Orleans where the Louisiana Kickoff has been held since 2022.
Game results
Season Date Winners Runners-up Attendance Television TV Viewers Source2013 August 31 Oklahoma State 21 Mississippi State 3 35,874 ABC/ESPN2 2.162M 2014 August 30 LSU 28 Wisconsin 24 71,599ESPN 4.680M 2015 September 5 Texas A&M 38 Arizona State 17 66,308 2.471M 2016 September 3 Houston 33 Oklahoma 23 71,016 ABC 5.713M 2017 September 2 LSU 27 BYU 0 53,826ESPN 1.763M 2018 September 1 Ole Miss 47 Texas Tech 27 40,333 1.929M 2019 September 14 Washington State 31 Houston 24 40,523 2.072M 2020Game cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Originally Baylor v Ole Miss. 2021 September 4 Texas Tech 38 Houston 21 43,478ESPN 0.871M Rankings are from the AP Poll. TV viewers are from Sports Media Watch.
2013 The 2013 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff was the inaugural event in the series and matched the unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) against the No. 13 Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 Conference on August 31, 2013, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Cowboys decisively defeated the Bulldogs 21–3.
2014 The second edition of the Kickoff featured the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten Conference and the No. 13 LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was played on August 30, 2014, at NRG Stadium in Houston. This became official when school officials from the participating teams agreed to play in this kickoff classic on August 23, 2013. It was the third time the Badgers and Tigers met on the football field, with the Tigers prevailing 28–24.
2015 The 2015 matchup between Texas A&M of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Arizona State of the Pac-12 Conference was announced on November 22, 2013. Heading into the game, Texas A&M was unranked while Arizona State was ranked 15th in the preseason AP poll. The game was close through three quarters, with the Aggies outscoring the Sun Devils 21–3 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
2016 The fourth edition of the Kickoff featured the No. 15 Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference and the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big 12 Conference, and was played on September 3, 2016, at NRG Stadium in Houston. The game was publicly announced on September 8, 2014. At game time, Houston was under consideration for Big 12 membership along with several other schools. The Big 12 chose not to expand several weeks later after Houston beat Oklahoma 33–23. The Sooners went on to win the Big 12 title with a 9–0 conference record becoming the first Advocare Texas Kickoff participant to win its conference. The game featured a rare "kick six" as Houston defensive back Brandon Wilson returned a missed field goal 110 yards for a touchdown.
2017 On January 8, 2015, the Advocare Texas Kickoff announced that the LSU Tigers would face the BYU Cougars on September 2, 2017, at NRG Stadium. However, due to the tremendous flooding from Hurricane Harvey hitting the Houston metro area, the game was relocated to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Tigers shut out the Cougars 27–0.
2020 The 2020 game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The game was to be played between Baylor of the Big 12 Conference and Ole Miss from the SEC.
2021 The 2021 game was between Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference and Houston of the American Athletic Conference. Texas Tech won the game 38–21 after being down 7–21 at halftime.
Future Games SeasonDateMatchup 2027TBA
Records By team Rank Team Apps Record Win % 1 LSU 2 2–0 1.000 2 Oklahoma State 1 1–0 1.000 Ole Miss 1 1–0 1.000 Texas A&M 1 1–0 1.000 Washington State 1 1–0 1.000 6 Texas Tech 2 1–1 .500 7 Houston 3 1–2 .333 8 Arizona State 1 0–1 .000 BYU 1 0–1 .000 Mississippi State 1 0–1 .000 Oklahoma 1 0–1 .000 Wisconsin 1 0–1 .000
By conference Rank Conference Apps Record Win % 1 SEC 5 4–1 .800 2 Pac-12 2 1–1 .500 Big 12 4 2–2 .500 3American 3 1–2 .333 5 Big Ten 1 0–1 .000
References
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