Is 2025 the year for Texas to win it ALL? Our 2026 Schedule is likely to include 9 games against opponents ranked in Top 16…..

[Bevo92]

Needed a mental break this morning from the  Recruiting Roller Coaster. 🤪😂  Tip of the cap to you, Jeff Howe, with my expanded topic title this Sat morning, Lol.  😂🤣

Thinking about how dominating Texas will potentially be in 2026 on offense and defense with all our highly athletic freshmen and sophomores now ready to shine, it led me to look ahead at what our 2026 football schedule will potentially be and the questions it raises.

1) Will our SEC conference schedule be 8 or 9 games?  Crazy that this question is still looming and TBD in mid-summer.  

2) Will Texas have permanent annual games against 1, 2 or 3 teams?   OU is absolute and I would think A&M is as well based on several comments made by CDC recently, regardless of whether the conference plays 8 or 9 SEC teams.  I don’t have any feelings about Ark as a 3rd permanent annual game other than the fact that they are likely to be one of our easiest wins, given how competitive the SEC is top to bottom. 

3) Assuming status quo of an 8-team conference schedule for 2026 and assuming Texas plays OU and A&M every year, 1 SEC team will get left out of the rotation to play Texas next season.  Who would it be?

4) Given our current slate of conf games the past 2 seasons, 2026 would have Texas playing Bama, LSU, Ole Mis, Tennessee, A&M, OU, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn.    That’s 9 conference games.   Who is gonna get left out? And btw, holy $&@?…   8 out of 9 teams in that group are ranked in the Top 16 currently according to ESPN’s FPI and the 9th (Missouri) is 24th.   Then add to this insane 2026 conference schedule, our home game against Top 4 Ohio State to kick off the season.   Texas is likely to have the #1 hardest schedule in football next season. 

5) I’ve had it my mind this offseason that 2026 is Texas’ year to win it all due to anticipated younger players maturing and the belief that Texas would be more athletic and experienced  (QB, OL, DL, Secondary, Receivers, TE, RB, etc) but….

6) The reality is that our schedule may be more favorable this year (as crazy as that may sound) combined with the fact that the other top teams competing for a natty like Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Bama, all have significant youth in key areas, including QB, as well.   

 It brings me to 3 questions on this Saturday morning:

1) Is 2025 actually the year for Texas to win it ALL?  Lots of things line up to say Yes imho, most notably our kick@$$ defense that should be second to none, an improved offense with Arch making us more diverse and dangerous, better special teams play (a real weakness last season that’s been addressed in the portal) and a schedule that’s more favorable.  

2) If SEC only plays an 8-team conference schedule in 2026, who gets left off?

3) Can you think of any other time in history when it’s been more f’ing fun to be a Texas Longhorn?  

Hook em!  🧡🤘🏼🐂

Edited 3 hours ago by Bevo92

[Bevo92]

2025 ESPN Pre-Season FPI

 

[Bevo92]

By comparison to the 9 ‘Top 16’ teams we could potentially play next season, Texas plays 4 teams this season in the Top 16 or 6 teams in the Top 22.   Our conference schedule appears substantially easier this season by comparison, which is crazy.  
 

We aren’t in the Big 12 anymore, lol (and that is such a good thing).  

[qaertyisthatdude]

1)  Idk if Texas wins it all in 2025, but they need to show they can get over that semifinal hurdle and get to the game.  I want to see them win at least 10 regular season games (go at least 2-2 in the tOSU, UF, OU, and UGA games and win the other 8 games), and win the SEC (I want to see this badly after how last season’s SEC championship game ended).  If they win the SEC, they’ll most likely be ranked in the top 4 and get a first round bye, which will help the team rest off any nagging injuries, which will help them win the quarterfinals and finally win in the semifinals.  If that happens, they’ll have a 50-50 shot a winning a natty.

2)  It would be all the SEC teams Texas will not face this season.  I would think Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Florida, and Georgia for sure.  That leaves Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Missouri.  If the SEC doesn’t have multiple permanent rivals locked in, I could see those teams, OU, and A&M if there’s 8 games.  Add Arkansas back on the schedule if there’s 9 games.

3)  Not since the ‘60s or the ‘00s.  Just gotta break through at least once in these next two seasons!