Texas missed the CFP in 2025. The 2026 schedule offers no excuses, no soft landings, and no hiding from the SEC grind.
The Texas Longhorns entered the 2025 season with championship expectations and the No. 1 ranking to match.
They left it on the outside of the College Football Playoff, a reality that still stings in Austin. With the postseason now approaching, attention has already turned forward, and the SEC's release of the 2026 conference schedule gives Texas a very clear roadmap back toward relevance.
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Texas already knew its non-conference slate, but the conference draw adds weight and urgency to every month of the season.
The Longhorns open with three straight home games, including an immediate measuring stick against Ohio State on Sept. 12. That matchup alone will shape the national perception of Texas before SEC play even begins.
Once conference play starts, there's no easing in. Texas heads to Knoxville to face Tennessee before its first bye, then meets Oklahoma in Dallas in what will once again carry SEC and playoff implications. From there, the schedule stacks pressure fast, with Florida, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State all visiting Austin in consecutive weeks.
The road slate is where the margin disappears entirely.
Trips to Missouri and LSU sit back-to-back in November, followed by the regular-season finale in College Station against Texas A&M.
With the SEC moving to a nine-game schedule and permanent rivals locked in, Texas will see no relief from rivalry tension. Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas A&M remain annual fixtures, and the Longhorns have dominated those matchups recently, going 6-0 against the trio over the past two seasons by double digits.
That dominance matters internally.
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Players have made it clear that winning rivalry games isn't just expected, it's personal. But 2026 expands the battlefield. Road trips to Baton Rouge and Knoxville, plus a high-profile home game against Ole Miss, will accelerate Texas' integration into SEC hostility, whether the Longhorns are ready for it or not.
There's also a touch of familiarity woven in.
Texas will face Missouri for the first time since the 2017 Texas Bowl, renewing an old Big 12 connection in the heart of conference play. And looming over everything is that early Ohio State game, a chance for Texas to rewrite a narrative before the league schedule tightens its grip.
After a season defined by unmet expectations, Texas has no room to drift in 2026.
The schedule is demanding, public, and unforgiving. If the Longhorns want back in the SEC Championship conversation, they'll have to earn it every single week.
Texas Longhorns 2026 Football Schedule
Sat, Sept. 5 – vs. Texas State – Austin, TX
Sat, Sept. 12 – vs. Ohio State – Austin, TX
Sat, Sept. 19 – vs. UTSA – Austin, TX
Sat, Sept. 26 – at Tennessee – Knoxville, TN
Sat, Oct. 3 – BYE
Sat, Oct. 10 – vs. Oklahoma – Dallas, TX
Sat, Oct. 17 – vs. Florida – Austin, TX
Sat, Oct. 24 – vs. Ole Miss – Austin, TX
Sat, Oct. 31 – vs. Mississippi State – Austin, TX
Sat, Nov. 7 – at Missouri – Columbia, MO
Sat, Nov. 14 – at LSU – Baton Rouge, LA
Sat, Nov. 21 – vs. Arkansas – Austin, TX
Fri, Nov. 27 – at Texas A&M – College Station, TX