We continue our countdown to kick-off with our series detailing one biggest concern for every SEC team heading into 2026. Today, we head to Austin to talk about the Texas Longhorns.
The Schedule
Texas is going to be a perennial top ten team in the NIL era. The deep pockets, the incredible resources and the desperation for the size of trophies in the trophy case to match the egos in the donor base are all driving forces.
Everything is in place for Texas to succeed this year. Arch Manning has a year of starting experience under his belt, they bolstered the skill positions with elite talent from the transfer portal and they, once again, should have one of the best offensive lines in America anchored by a future first round pick. Even more exciting is that the defense could be even better than the offense with elite players everywhere and possibly the best pass rusher in America in Colin Simmons.
The schedule, though? That’s a nightmare.
The Longhorns have arguably the toughest schedule in the entire country. They get Ohio State in the non-conference, don’t have a single FCS opponent and, like everyone else in the league, will play nine conference games in the SEC this year.
Those nine games include Ole Miss at home, and road trips to LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M. That’s not even mentioning the annual neutral site game in Dallas against Oklahoma.
That’s about as unforgiving as it gets. It feels like with Texas’ brand, talent and that strength of schedule, a 9-3 season gets them in the CFP. But, you never know. We haven’t seen a 9-3 team in the CFP yet that wasn’t a Power Four conference champion (Clemson, 2024).
There’s no room for error here. That’s a scary thought for a team that lost to 4-8 Florida on the road last year and were in four quarter dog fights against Mississippi State and Kentucky. All three of those teams finished with losing records, and all three nearly or did knock off Texas.
What if Texas doesn’t get as lucky this year as they did last year? What if they drop one they shouldn’t on the road against Missouri or Tennessee? We’ve seen it happen before. For Steve Sarkisian, it cannot happen again.
