OTF community discussion: Is Texas' 2026 schedule for difficult than 2025?

[diegozanna20]

For the SEC schedule:

at LSU 50% W - Tough game, gonna be an incredible enviroment, still think they're not gonna be ready immediately but you never know. They had a really good defense this year and Lane can fix the offense.

at Tennessee 75% W - Lots of talk about Heupel leaving, either way I don't really see how they get better and they need to get A LOT better, especially on defense. Their QB is leaving, I think?

at Missouri 60% W - They're gonna be a good team, Eli is not leaving and they're one of those SEC teams that even with a talent disparity can be really really tough to play against. Trap game imo.

at Texas A&M 75% W - They lose so many guys and being in the CFP is gonna make it hard to really go "all in" in the portal, feels like Texas last year except their QB is coming back. Think they're gonna be a lot worse.

Oklahoma 70% W - Tough to say, defense is always gonna be good but when are they going to figure it out offensively? Either way I think the defense is gonna take a step back and Sark seems to have Venables' number.

Florida 80% W - They're gonna be better but not as talented. Don't think it's gonna be close since we play them at home and we got embarassed this year by them. Team's gonna be up for it.

Arkansas 99% W - They're gonna be the worst team in the SEC.

Ole Miss 80% W - They're not gonna be nearly as good. All the players that outside their facility are talking about how they're going to the natty will jump ship at the first opportunity. They're mercenaries like their coach.

Mississippi State 80% W - It's gonna be a tougher game than people realize. Still, we play them at home. Like our chances.

I honestly feel like it's gonna be a schedule where all off season people talk about is how grueling it's gonna be and then most teams we play end up being wayyyy overrated.
I also look at it from the point of view of "Who's gonna have a REALLY good defense?" cause in mind the chances of not having a top 10/15 offense next year are slim and I don't think we're gonna suck on defense either.

[Danimal]

Cancel OSU. It's pointless. 

We needed those type of games when we were big 12. Not now. 

Even if we move to 16 teams, no OOC against teams that are in the top half of their conference.

We should schedule Cal, Minnesota, Rutgers, Purdue, UCF, Stanford, Wake Forest, etc.

[FatherofMinky]

Yes, it’s difficult.
Also…Scheduling Tough non-conference games as an SEC team makes ZERO since. There is a reason they all schedule cupcakes. Let’s not reinvent the wheel here. 

[TooBrokeToPayAttention21]

Overall I would say yes but we need to see what will be added and taken away possibly from the teams we play. We were undefeated at home this year and so I feel like we'll keep that same energy going into next year as well. I think the games at Tennessee and Missouri could be tough but nothing on the level of a Georgia or Alabama. I don't think LSU can rattle us enough in their house next year to make a difference. College Station mmm been there...done that. I won't give a record but I like our chances of getting back to the CFP should we miss out on it this year 

[JMarquette]

12 minutes ago, diegozanna20 said:

For the SEC schedule:

at LSU 50% W - Tough game, gonna be an incredible enviroment, still think they're not gonna be ready immediately but you never know. They had a really good defense this year and Lane can fix the offense.

at Tennessee 75% W - Lots of talk about Heupel leaving, either way I don't really see how they get better and they need to get A LOT better, especially on defense. Their QB is leaving, I think?

at Missouri 60% W - They're gonna be a good team, Eli is not leaving and they're one of those SEC teams that even with a talent disparity can be really really tough to play against. Trap game imo.

at Texas A&M 75% W - They lose so many guys and being in the CFP is gonna make it hard to really go "all in" in the portal, feels like Texas last year except their QB is coming back. Think they're gonna be a lot worse.

Oklahoma 70% W - Tough to say, defense is always gonna be good but when are they going to figure it out offensively? Either way I think the defense is gonna take a step back and Sark seems to have Venables' number.

Florida 80% W - They're gonna be better but not as talented. Don't think it's gonna be close since we play them at home and we got embarassed this year by them. Team's gonna be up for it.

Arkansas 99% W - They're gonna be the worst team in the SEC.

Ole Miss 80% W - They're not gonna be nearly as good. All the players that outside their facility are talking about how they're going to the natty will jump ship at the first opportunity. They're mercenaries like their coach.

Mississippi State 80% W - It's gonna be a tougher game than people realize. Still, we play them at home. Like our chances.

I honestly feel like it's gonna be a schedule where all off season people talk about is how grueling it's gonna be and then most teams we play end up being wayyyy overrated.
I also look at it from the point of view of "Who's gonna have a REALLY good defense?" cause in mind the chances of not having a top 10/15 offense next year are slim and I don't think we're gonna suck on defense either.

I like this breakdown a lot:

LSU a little too low, A&M a little too high - OU is always 50-50 for me.

[diegozanna20]

4 minutes ago, JMarquette said:

I like this breakdown a lot:

LSU a little too low, A&M a little too high - OU is always 50-50 for me.

Hey until Elko and Vegetables show me otherwise I'm gonna have around 70% confidence we win against them.
They didn't manage to beat us in our down year, they're not going to beat us next year after we've gone all in.
Team is gonna be up for both of these games like always and they're not going to take them for granted cause the leadership isn't gonna change in this team and after this year they're gonna be hungry.
It's the year after we're really gonna have to worry about with A&M and OU.

[HookemChappy]

There’s gonna be a significant amount of portal transfer activity with all the new coaching changes so no one’s team today is gonna look like their 2026 team

[diegozanna20]

3 minutes ago, HookemChappy said:

There’s gonna be a significant amount of portal transfer activity with all the new coaching changes so no one’s team today is gonna look like their 2026 team

Eh. For some teams, sure. I don't think it's gonna be across the board.

[hookem1014]

On paper yes it looks more difficult, especially with the extra SEC game. Will have to see how all the teams with new coaches end up playing out. @LSU will be tough. Lane will retain a lot of talent and bring in his own.