Texas Longhorns Cancel Future Series With Big 12 Team

Some massive scheduling news has hit the Texas Longhorns and Arizona State Sun Devils, and we are still six years out from when they are supposed to meet on the turf for the 2032 and 2033 seasons.

Tuesday afternoon, Chris Karpman of 247Sports reported that the Longhorns would be requesting to be let out of the future series with the Big 12 school, citing the SEC's move to a nine-game schedule as being the reason why.

The Longhorns and Sun Devils last faced off in the quarterfinals of the 2025 College Football Playoff in a neck-and-neck battle that resulted in a 39-31 Horns victory.

What Does This Mean For Texas' Future Non-Conference Matchups?

Texas Longhorns linebacker Colin Simmons (11) — Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) scrambles away from Texas linebacker Colin Simmons (11) during the second quarter of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. | Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Longhorns have been skeptical about their non-conference matchups ever since their season-opening loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes this past season played a massive role in keeping the Burnt Orange out of the College Football Playoff, despite the Horns ending the year with a 9-3 record.

In December, head coach Steve Sarkisian was adamant about keeping the non-conference matchups with the Buckeyes as well as the Michigan Wolverines on their schedule in the future, as is Texas' athletic director Chris Del Conte.

The only other notable non-conference matchup in the future is a series with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish that would be taking place in South Bend for the 2028 season and then in Austin the following year.

According to Inside Texas, if the Horns chose to cancel their two-game series with Marcus Freeman's squad within two years of the scheduled date, it would cost Texas $500,000, which they would have to pay to the University of Notre Dame, giving Texas until September 9 of this year to make up their mind on the future games.

And should Texas decide to wait after September 9 of this year but before the date in 2027, they would owe the Irish $1,000,000, and any time after the date in 2027 will result in the Horns being $1,500,000 to the independent school in South Bend.

The Longhorns' matchups against the Buckeyes and Wolverines are set to serve as their "high quality" non-conference games, which is part of the new SEC scheduling policies heading forward, which states that "each team must have at least one non-conference game scheduled against a team from either the Atlantic Coast, the Big 10, or Big 12 Conferences or against Notre Dame for each season."

Texas is currently slated to face the Texas State Bobcats, the Buckeyes, and the UTSA Roadrunners for their non-conference slate in 2026, with every season up until 2030 taken care of in terms of the high-quality opponents.