Texas is 4-0 with an average margin of victory of 22.75 points against teams that knocked off the Longhorns in 2022. A victory over the fifth team to boast a win over the Longhorns – Washington – in the Sugar Bowl would serve as a springboard into the programs’ first national championship game since 2009. 

The revenge tour began with a 34-24 win over Alabama in Week 2.  Texas beat the three Big 12 teams that dished the Longhorns losses last year – TCU, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State – over the last month of the season. The victories over the Red Raiders and Cowboys over the last two weeks were by a combined 106-28 to help the Longhorns qualify for a spot in the College Football Playoff. 

Texas is 3-2 all-time against Washington. Darrell Royal’s teams swept the Huskies in a home-and-home series in 1974 and 1975. The Longhorns won the first matchup in Austin, 35-21, in 1974 and then bested Washington in Seattle, 28-10. Washington knocked off Fred Akers’ bunch, 14-7, in the 1979 Sun Bowl. Mack Brown coached the Longhorns past the Huskies in a high-scoring Holiday Bowl back in 2001. And, of course, Washington holds bragging rights after the 27-20 over Texas in last year’s Alamo Bowl. 

This is Texas’ fifth trip to a Sugar Bowl. The first invite was in 1947 when Bobby Layne, with help from two non-offensive touchdowns, rolled past Alabama, 27-7, in 1947. The Longhorns lost the next meeting 10 years later when Royal’s first season in Austin ended with a 34-7 loss to Ole Miss in New Orleans. The first two games were played at Tulane Stadium. 

The third trip to the Sugar Bowl wouldn’t come until 1995, and it is one the Longhorns would rather forget. Texas collapsed against the Hokies and lost 28-10 to end a season that was headlined by the final Southwest Conference championship in history. 

This is Texas' first trip to the College Football Playoff. The Sugar Bowl against Washington kicks off at 7:45 p.m. CDT on Jan. 1 on ESPN. The winner faces the victor between Michigan and Alabama in the Rose Bowl, which takes place earlier that same day. The national championship game is Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at NRG Stadium in Houston.