Though the 2026 college football season is six months away, there are eye-raising matchups between quality teams that may not necessarily pit high-ranked programs against each other but still carry incredible storylines. There’s a term for those types of games: juicy.

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Those storylines could be on-field rivalries, head coaches returning to their old school, transfer portal intrigue, and much more. According to Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3, Texas is involved in two of those games.

Texas’ trip to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies was the No. 10 “juiciest” matchup of the 2026 season while the week two return game with the Ohio State Buckeyes earned the No. 2 spot.

Lane Kiffin‘s return to Oxford to face Ole Miss as head coach of the LSU Tigers was No. 1.

Texas lost its most recent outing with the Buckeyes, a week one battle to start the 2025 season. Texas lost 14-7 after its offense sputtered to just one offensive touchdown late via a deep touchdown pass from Arch Manning to Parker Livingstone. This year, Ohio State travels to Austin in a game almost assured a primetime start. Not only will Heisman hopefuls at quarterback in Texas’ Manning and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin indirectly square off, so too will two of the best wideouts in the sport on Saturday, September 12.

“It’s also going to be the biggest heavyweight fight, receiver to receiver, in the entire sport next year. If you actually look at the Cam Coleman–Jeremiah Smith matchup,” Wasserman said. “I know we always do quarterback versus quarterback, but I think Cam Coleman is the closest thing to Jeremiah Smith in college football going into next year.”

The Longhorns have won back-to-back rivalry games with the Aggies since UT joined the SEC in 2024. Texas is on a three-game winning streak in the Lone Star Showdown, and the Aggies haven’t beaten Texas in College Station since 2007. In 2025, Texas won 27-17 in the Longhorns’ first win in Austin in the Lone Star Showdown since 2008 thanks to Manning rushing for one score and passing for another. Ryan Wingo hauled in the scoring toss. Nick Townsend recorded the other six-pointer on a two-yard carry. Texas A&M saw its undefeated season come to an end and missed out on the SEC Championship game as a result.

“Texas has beaten Texas A&M three times in a row, but that dates back to 2011. So this is an extra psychic weight that Texas A&M has to carry,” Staples said of the Friday, November 27 battle.

One matchup that missed the cut was the annual battle with Oklahoma in Dallas on October 10. The Longhorns have won three-of-four over the Sooners. In those losses three to Texas, Oklahoma has scored a total of nine points.

Another was the Longhorns’ trip to LSU to face the Tigers in Baton Rouge on November 14. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Kiffin, both Nick Saban disciples who have held the same position at multiple stops, have faced off three times in their careers. Sarkisian won with the Washington Huskies over Kiffin’s USC Trojans in 2010, then lost to Kiffin in each of the next two seasons.

Texas kicks off its season on Saturday, September 5 versus Texas State.

10. Texas at Texas A&M – November 27
9. Duke at Miami (Fla.) – November 17
8. Oregon at USC – September 26
7. Texas Tech at Cincinnati – October 24
6. Penn State at Michigan – October 17
5. Florida at Auburn – September 19
4. Georgia at Alabama – October 10
3. Miami (Fla.) at Notre Dame – November 7
2. Ohio State at Texas – September 12
1. LSU at Ole Miss – September 19