{"id":343929,"date":"2025-12-12T07:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T07:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/343929\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T07:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T07:26:08","slug":"nine-game-schedule-texas-odd-draw-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/343929\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine-game schedule, Texas\u2019 odd draw, more"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 college football season hasn\u2019t even ended yet, but it\u2019s never too early to start making plans, right?<\/p>\n

The SEC had already announced everyone\u2019s conference opponents for 2026-29<\/a>, but we now have actual dates for the 2026 schedule. SEC Network hosted a schedule release show that revealed the conference slate for each week, meaning the 2026 schedules for Texas<\/a>, Texas A&M<\/a> and Oklahoma<\/a> are all set.<\/p>\n

See each school\u2019s full schedule below, as well as three takeaways from the 2026 SEC schedule.<\/p>\n

Nine-game schedule impact<\/p>\n

Texas College Sports<\/p>\n

Get the latest college sports news, scores and analysis.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

There are two notable differences in this year\u2019s schedule. First, there are no longer two bye weeks on each team\u2019s schedule. The way the calendar fell in 2024 and 2025, there were 14 available Saturdays from late August\/early September and late November for teams to play 12 games. That changes in 2026.<\/p>\n

For example, opening week falls on Sept. 5 in 2026 after it fell on Aug. 30 this season.<\/p>\n

The second difference is this is the first season the SEC has moved to a nine-game conference schedule<\/a>. On top of that, each team is required to play at least one Power Four opponent or Notre Dame in nonconference play.<\/p>\n

With only one bye week and an extra SEC game, the 2026 schedule will feel like a significantly more difficult grind for teams. If you thought the narrative surrounding SEC strength of schedule was loud already, just wait until next season when the SEC schedules are even more difficult.<\/p>\n

Late-season gauntlet for A&M<\/p>\n

For the Aggies to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff in 2026, they\u2019re going to have to survive a late-season gauntlet.<\/p>\n

Five of Texas A&M\u2019s first seven games are at home, ending with a home game against The Citadel on Oct. 17. After that, the Aggies hit the road for what will presumably be a very difficult game at Alabama on Oct. 24 before a bye week on Halloween to rest up for the home stretch.<\/p>\n

Then, the Aggies\u2019 final four games go as follows: at South Carolina, vs. Tennesee, at Oklahoma, vs. Texas. Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas are perennial Top 25 programs. Plus, a visit to Williams-Brice Stadium in South Carolina is never easy, as Mike Elko\u2019s team found out in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starting with their road trip to Alabama, Texas A&M will face a meat grinder in the season\u2019s final weeks. <\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 odd draw<\/p>\n

If you thought the early portion of A&M\u2019s schedule was very home-heavy, check out Texas\u2019 schedule.<\/p>\n

The Longhorns leave the state of Texas just one time in September and October. After a three-game home nonconference slate that includes a game against Ohio State, the Longhorns play at Tennessee on Sept. 26 and have a bye week on Oct. 3.<\/p>\n

Following their bye week, the Longhorns face Oklahoma in Dallas on Oct. 10 and host Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State in consecutive weeks before finally hitting the road again against Missouri on Nov. 7.<\/p>\n

While this may create an opportunity for Texas to stack wins at home early in the season, this creates an extremely difficult finish to the season with three of Texas\u2019 final four games being on the road. The Longhorns visit Missouri, LSU and Texas A&M in November, with a home game against Arkansas mixed in on Nov. 21.<\/p>\n

This is especially notable given Texas\u2019 struggles on the road in 2025. All three of the Longhorns\u2019 losses this year came on the road, plus there were two very messy wins on the road against lowly Kentucky and Mississippi State.<\/p>\n

Steve Sarkisian\u2019s team needs a strong start to the season, because Texas may need some room for error in November to make the College Football Playoff next season.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Texas Longhorns 2025 scheduleDateGameSept. 5vs. Texas StateSept. 12vs. Ohio StateSept. 19vs. UTSASept. 26at TennesseeOct. 3BYEOct. 10vs. Oklahoma (Dallas)Oct. 17vs. FloridaOct. 24vs. Ole MissOct. 31vs. Mississippi StateNov. 7at MissouriNov. 14at LSUNov. 21vs. ArkansasNov. 27at Texas A&MTexas A&M Aggies 2025 scheduleDateGameSept. 5vs. Missouri StateSept. 12vs. Arizona StateSept. 19vs. KentuckySept. 26at LSUOct. 3vs. ArkansasOct. 10at MissouriOct. 17vs. The CitadelOct. 24at AlabamaOct. 31BYENov. 7at South CarolinaNov. 14vs. TennesseeNov. 21at OklahomaNov. 27vs. TexasOklahoma Sooners 2025 scheduleDateGameSept. 5vs. UTEPSept. 12at MichiganSept. 19vs. New MexicoSept. 26at GeorgiaOct. 3BYEOct. 10vs. Texas (Dallas)Oct. 17vs. KentuckyOct. 24at Mississippi StateOct. 31vs. South CarolinaNov. 7at FloridaNov. 14vs. Ole MissNov. 21vs. Texas A&MNov. 28at Missouri<\/p>\n

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 college football season hasn\u2019t even ended yet, but it\u2019s never too early to start making plans,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2662,10725,399,6344,99,1784,5690],"class_list":["post-343929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-college-sports","tag-colleges","tag-football","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-sports","tag-texas-am-aggies","tag-texas-longhorns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}