Texas appears in three of the SEC’s five biggest games of 2026, headlined by a hostile Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M in College Station.
Texas football hasn’t just joined the SEC’s biggest stage, the Longhorns are threatening to hijack the entire television schedule.
On3’s Crain & Cone ranked the five most anticipated SEC games of the 2026 season, and Texas appeared three times more than any other program. The list includes road tests at LSU and Texas A&M, plus the annual Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma.
That’s not simply scheduling luck. It’s proof that the Longhorns have become one of the conference’s most valuable attractions.
The biggest game on the board is Texas at Texas A&M on Nov. 27. The Lone Star Showdown returns to College Station with Mike Elko attempting to push the Aggies from respectable contender to legitimate SEC threat.
Texas won 17-7 the last time it visited Kyle Field, but this rivalry doesn’t need recent competitiveness to sell itself. The hatred is old, the stakes are personal and both fan bases will spend the entire year treating the game like a referendum on their programs.
For Steve Sarkisian and Texas, winning in College Station would reinforce the idea that the Longhorns remain the dominant power in the state. For the Aggies, beating Texas could become the defining victory of Elko’s rebuild.
Texas also appears at No. 4 with its Oct. 10 meeting against Oklahoma.
The Sooners haven’t scored a touchdown against the Longhorns in more than 1,000 days, an ugly drought that adds even more pressure to one of college football’s nastiest rivalries.
Records rarely matter at the Cotton Bowl, where momentum swings, turnovers and raw emotion tend to erase whatever happened during the previous month.
The Longhorns’ Nov. 14 trip to LSU rounds out their three appearances.
Death Valley already guarantees noise, chaos and a national audience. Add Arch Manning, Sam Leavitt and a matchup loaded with SEC championship implications, and the television potential becomes enormous.
Georgia at Alabama claimed the No. 3 position, while LSU at Ole Miss ranked second, fueled by Lane Kiffin’s reunion with his former program.
Still, Texas dominates the list.
That matters in an era when kickoff windows, recruiting attention and television exposure help shape the national pecking order.
The Longhorns will have multiple opportunities to strengthen their playoff resume - and just as many chances to stumble under the brightest lights.
Texas wanted SEC relevance. In 2026, the conference may revolve around the Longhorns.
