Texas appears in five of USA TODAY Sports' 10 biggest games of 2026, putting Arch Manning and the Longhorns under a national microscope all season.
The Texas Longhorns' 2026 football schedule isn't merely difficult. It's basically a weekly national television event with College Football Playoff consequences attached.
USA TODAY Sports writer Blake Toppmeyer ranked the 10 biggest games of the 2026 college football season, and Texas appears in five of them ... an extraordinary 50 percent of the entire list.
Toppmeyer's ranking reinforces both the brutality of the Longhorns' schedule and the enormous spotlight following quarterback Arch Manning.
It starts almost immediately.
Texas gets No. 1 Ohio State in Week 2, a rematch carrying plenty of baggage after Manning struggled against the Buckeyes in the 2025 opener.
As Toppmeyer notes in his USA TODAY Sports article, Manning's development since that game - including his performance against Michigan - makes the sequel one of the season's biggest early measuring sticks.
Then comes Oklahoma.
The Red River Rivalry doesn't need much help generating attention, but this year's meeting could have serious CFP elimination vibes.
Both programs face demanding schedules, meaning a loss in Dallas could leave either Texas or Oklahoma with almost no margin for error afterward.
And Manning's marquee quarterback matchups don't stop there.
A showdown featuring Manning against Trinidad Chambliss gives the Longhorns another game with potential Heisman Trophy implications.
That's followed by a trip into LSU, where Texas could find itself playing one of the most anticipated games of the SEC season.
Toppmeyer specifically highlighted the possibility of Texas landing in a prime-time environment at Tiger Stadium, precisely the kind of stage that can define a quarterback's Heisman campaign and a team's championship credibility.
Then there's the finale.
Texas and Texas A&M are back where they belong on Black Friday, and this year's rivalry could carry enormous postseason stakes.
The Longhorns are 2-0 against the Aggies since joining the SEC, while Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed gets another opportunity to flip the rivalry.
That matchup could be much more than bragging rights. By late November, Texas-Texas A&M could effectively become a College Football Playoff elimination game.
Five appearances among Toppmeyer's 10 biggest games tell the story. Texas won't have many places to hide in 2026.
If Manning and the Longhorns make another run at the College Football Playoff, nobody will be able to argue they took the easy road.
