Greg McElroy Names 4 SEC Programs Facing Toughest Schedules for 2026 Season

The SEC implemented major changes to its football scheduling format ahead of the 2026 season.

The conference now plays nine league games like every other Power Four conference, and each of the league's 16 members is required to play a non-conference foe that is either in another Power Four conference or Notre Dame.

As a result, schedules that were already strong are now in competition with one another for the toughest in the country.

Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy ranked the four toughest SEC schedules in 2026 on a recent episode of "Always College Football."

McElroy believes Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M play the toughest schedules in the conference this season.

Texas

If there are any redeeming qualities about Texas' Sept. 12 matchup with Ohio State, it's the fact that the game is not in the first week of the season and that UTSA lies between it and the SEC opener. Losing the game in Columbus made for a disjointed start to 2025, but a win could do the opposite in 2026.

Texas stays within state borders for all of October, but it will have to power through challenging matchups against Oklahoma in Dallas and Ole Miss at home. November is when the road schedule picks up in intensity; the Longhorns follow their trip to Missouri with another trip to LSU, and they end the season at Texas A&M.

Arkansas

The combination of games Arkansas plays in the second and third weeks of the season is a rough introduction for any first-year SEC head coach. The Razorbacks travel to Utah for a late-night kickoff on Sept. 12 and then return home to two-time defending SEC champion Georgia on Sept. 19.

Following the trip to Texas A&M on Oct. 3, the Razorbacks' SEC schedule lightens some in its intensity, but the end of the schedule may be as challenging as the beginning.

Like in 2025, the penultimate regular season game is at Texas, and for the first time in 13 years, the Battle of the Golden Boot against LSU is in the final week of the season.

Oklahoma

Texas might draw the most challenging non-conference opponent in the SEC this year, but Oklahoma's non-conference schedule is the most challenging of any SEC team.

After its demanding road game at Michigan, Oklahoma comes home to one of the strongest Group of Six teams in the country in New Mexico. The Lobos are coming off a nine-win season, and unlike most Group of Six programs, return much of their best talent from 2025.

The Sooners' SEC opener is at Georgia, and the annual Red River Shootout is two weeks later. The end of October is not dreadful for Oklahoma, but a trip to Florida followed by home bouts with Ole Miss and Texas A&M presents a tricky end to the 2026 season.

Texas A&M

Unlike the other three teams McElroy mentioned, the Aggies have somewhat of a friendly non-conference slate. A home battle with Arizona State on Sept. 12 is the headliner, but that is far less demanding than a road matchup with Utah, Michigan or an early-season test against Ohio State.

The SEC road draw is the most challenging element of Texas A&M's 2026 schedule. Tiger Stadium was a house of horrors for the Aggies until 2025; their last win in Bryant-Denny Stadium was with Johnny Manziel at quarterback in 2012, and they have lost each of their last two games in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Texas A&M's conference home schedule features a gradual increase in difficulty. The Aggies start with one of the milder opponents in the SEC in Kentucky, only to end with Texas, who they have not played within single digits the last two seasons.

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