Houston Astros fans are laser-focused on their team preparing to chase a second straight World Series trophy at their FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Consequently, they may not have thought about where Opening Day will be, or against whom. Mark Thursday, March 29 on your calendar, for a 2:35 (CT) start time in Arlington against the Texas Rangers.

Texas Rangers fans, presumably, are like Astros fans of yore, believing the team-produced hype, and hoping against hope that 2018 will not be a repeat of last year’s third-place finish (tied with the Mariners), 23 games behind the eventual World Series champ Astros, at a 78-84 (.481) clip.

Slogan Slug-Out or “This Year’s Motto”

Days of research couldn’t unearth a 2018 team-spouted slogan for the Rangers; the Astros’ PR team, meanwhile, has delivered the “Never Settle” directive for the upcoming campaign, while third baseman Alex Bregman has seen fit to dub this season Houston’s back-to-back tour. Never lacking in confidence, he’s even been seen, this week around camp, sporting a “Back to Back” shirt, with the letters in clever “Back to the Future” movie font.

Texas manager Jeff Banister, apparently moonlighting by taking on some light front office duties, has conjured up this numerically basic (and humorously optimistic) 2018 motto: “#OneTexas.” To be honest, he had some help: One of those words actually appears on the front of his jersey, ruling out “#OneArlington.” And, “#TwoTexas” had to be axed due to copyright concerns over the “Texas Two-Step” country music classic. A Rangers beat writer, Levi Weaver, even poked holes in the Banister contribution, tweeting cheekily, “Personally, I’d have gone with ‘Two Texases’ and refused to explain it, ever.”

Lone Star Ball, a Rangers blog site, recently furrowed their brow and put it this way: “I’ve seen tweet after tweet from Rangers fans bemoaning the #OneTexas motto. Fans were, and remain emotionally invested in the #NeverEverQuit motto and I honestly don’t blame them.” That finally clears up some confusion. For the couple of years it’s drawn breath, I’d always thought that motto was #NeverEverQuitNeverEverQuitting.” I sit corrected.

LSB recognizes, from a Houston perspective, the slings and arrows Rangers fans may suffer at the hands of a weak-kneed motto: “‘Oh yeah, well at least #OneTexas team has won a World Series title!’, they’ll scream.” And, in one final sigh of resignation: “#OneTexas is here. And it will #NeverEverQuit getting Rangers fans roasted by Astros fans.”

Spring Forward (Astros), Fall Back (Who Else?)

“Spring Training games don’t mean anything”: A phrase usually uttered by the team scrambling to reach a double-figure win total prior to Opening Day. Of course, Spring Training games serve a host of intra-team purposes, from conditioning to timing, pitch counts, and winnowing rosters.

The Astros have accumulated an 18-9 record (for a .667 winning percentage through games of March 24), with four ties.

Houston, by the way, sat atop the standings for the Florida contingent before getting blanked by Boston, Saturday, 6-0. The Astros are the only American League Western Division team sequestered in Florida (Grapefruit League), while the other four take residence in Arizona for the spring. The 15 teams who train in the Cactus League are led by the Milwaukee Brewers’ 19-9 record (.679 WP), currently the best out west, prior to games of March 25. The Rangers, coming into games of the 25th, are withering under the weight of the 14 other teams, languishing in the Cactus cellar at 7-22 (a .241 winning percentage).

Honk Honk! Under the Big Top

While the Astros are fielding virtually the same starting nine that won it all last year, they’re beginning 2018 with Justin Verlander and offseason acquisition Gerrit Cole further anchoring an already solid starting rotation.

But, Astros fans may be completely unaware of how the Rangers fare now, and what moves they made during the winter to, ostensibly, attempt to catch up with the ‘Stros in ’18.

Tim Cowlishaw, in a fit of howling hyperbole in the March 1 Dallas News, called the current Texas Rangers starting rotation, a “clown car.”

A curious rag-tag collection of castoffs, seeming has-beens, and misfits, Cole Hamels is still their “ace,” a questionable moniker after his 2017 ERA of 4.20, which is a mark that’s half a run higher than any ERA he’s posted since 2009.

Martin Perez is squeezed in there, too, bouncing off a season where he allowed opponents to hit .301 in 2017, while posting his highest ERA (4.82) since his 2012 rookie season. In December, Perez had a run-in with a bull on his Venezuela ranch. It seems Perez was sitting on a fence, and the bull snuck up and startled the starter. He proceeded to fall off the fence and landed on his right (non-throwing) elbow, fracturing the radial bone in the tip of the elbow which required surgery.

Perez, fully recovered now, hopes this incident sends a message to Banister that he (Perez) has no business pitching out of the bullpen. Perez seems certain he got the last laugh, though: “When I went back from Arlington after the surgery, I told my brother we needed to kill the bull and eat him,” Perez told a reporter. “We did, too. It was good meat.” Revenge, he’s convinced, is best served au jus.

Astros cast-off Doug Fister is another rotation cog, and Houston hitters say, “Bring him on!” While with Boston, Fister got clobbered in the second inning by the Astros in his one ALDS appearance. He posted the highest ERA (4.88) of his nine-year major league career in 2017.

Crammed somewhere in the trunk is former Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum, who may or may not see time in the bullpen, and will likely begin the season at one of the Rangers’ minor league affiliates.

Related: Astros’ AAA Fresno Spoils Sharp Tim Lincecum (Angels) MiLB Start

And, of course, there’s “Big Sexy,” the 44-year-old, 285-pound Bartolo Colon. Apparently not referring to massive water displacement, Banister spoke glowingly of Colon recently: “When it comes to guys doing what he’s doing, there’s a pool of one.” The Round Mound of Re-Pound had a 5.18 ERA with the Twins, and a helium-filled 8.14 for Atlanta last year, but is just one season removed from a 3.43 ERA and 33 starts, a grasp at past glory Banister hopes repeats in 2018.

From an Astros’ pitching perspective, Cowlishaw said it all with, “Sure things on the mound are for that other team from Texas.”

The Projections

Baseball Prospectus has offered their look ahead to the end of the season, and decreed the Astros will win the AL West with a 99-63 record, 16 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners, falling in at 2nd place. BP has the Texas Rangers tied with the Oakland A’s for the west cellar, 22 games off the pace at 77-85.

FanGraphs, as of this week, has seen fit to bestow upon Houston a 96.3% chance to win the AL West, 98.7% odds to make the playoffs, 60.1% to win the ALDS, 36.3% to win the AL pennant, and are pegged at 24.5% to win the World Series.

Conversely, FanGraphs has the Rangers somehow mustering a 0.4% chance to win the division (like BP, FG has them tied for last with the A’s). FanGraphs has Texas at a diminutive 0.1% chance to win the World Series. Curiously, they list the chances of the earth colliding with the sun on a Thursday at slightly higher odds.

No Need to Shudder

Justin Verlander will do battle with Hamels on Opening Day, kicking off a four-game road set in north Texas for the Astros. Lefty Dallas Keuchel will follow, while Lance McCullers, Jr. and Gerrit Cole will close out that series, according to manager AJ Hinch’s recent rotation announcement. Charlie Morton, who pitched the final World Series out in Game 7, will start the home opener on April 2 back at Minute Maid Park. Pre-game activities will include the unveiling of the Astros’ 2017 championship banner.

Related: Yuli Gurriel To Re-Join Astros April 13 for Home Rangers Series

That opening series in Arlington will give both teams a springboard… a first look at how the regular season might shake out. In-state rivals as they are, the Silver Boot is also in play, as it is every season, and after 19 games played together in 2018, we’ll see soon enough who has “#WonTexas”…. and more.

Related: Astros Uncovered: System-Wide Power Focus “Enforced With All Hitters”