What Nine-Game SEC Schedule Means for Texas Longhorns

The SEC announced Thursday that it will move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, a historical change that ends the eight-game slate each team in the league has played since 1992.

“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and paired with our requirement to play an additional (major conference) opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff.”

This means the Texas Longhorns will enter their third season in the SEC at the center of these changes, but how could it impact the program as a whole?

How New SEC Schedule Impacts Texas Longhorns

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian speaks during SEC Media Days. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Three Permanent Opponents

The new schedule format requires each SEC team to annually play the same three opponents while rotating teams for the remaining six games on the slate.

Ideally, Texas would play its three rivals -- Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas -- each year but that won't be confirmed until the 2026 conference schedule is released.

The Longhorns will also get a chance to face off against some other SEC powerhouses that they have yet to schedule during the program's first two years in the conference. Teams like LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee will now play Texas every couple of seasons while current conference contender hopefuls like Georgia and Florida will look to build on the early conference history that's already been established with the Longhorns since last season.

After some memorable finishes in Austin against LSU and Alabama in 2019 and 2022, respectively, the Longhorns will now welcome these teams and more to the Forty Acres in hopes of creating some additional memories.

Texas Must Schedule Power 4 Opponent in 2030, 2031

The change also requires each SEC team to schedule "one additional high quality non-conference from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season," per SECSports.com.

The Longhorns are set in that regard through the 2029 season, which includes a home-and-home with Notre Dame.

Here are the Power 4 teams that Texas currently has on its future schedule:

2026: Ohio State
2027: Michigan
2028: at Notre Dame
2029: Notre Dame
2032: at Arizona State
2033: Arizona State

The Longhorns currently have UTSA and UTEP on the schedule for the 2030 and 2031 seasons, respectively. Though Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte has already been adamant about the Longhorns scheduling tough non-conference opponents, the new change now ensures Texas will have some intriguing opponents to look forward to in 2030 and 2031.