The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners don't have an FCS game scheduled during the 2026 season. That's not the case for many of the SEC's original members and subsequent additions prior to the 2024 season when Texas and Oklahoma joined the "It Just Means More" Conference."
Of note, the Auburn Tigers face the Southern Conference's Samford Bulldogs in Week 12 of the 2026 College Football season, while the Alabama Crimson Tide face the Southern Conference's Chattanooga Mocs. Remember, the Tide doesn't schedule in-state schools.
The Longhorns are embracing local competition next year, scheduling the Texas State Bobcats and UTSA Roadrunners at DKR Stadium in Austin. The Sooners are playing the UTEP Miners and New Mexico Lobos at Gaylord Memorial.
Stormin in Norman's Dekota Gregory notes that OU head coach Brent Venables meant it when he said the Sooners were about to embrace the challenges of being in the SEC. Gregory believes Texas and Oklahoma removed the "only easy part" of SEC schedules.
"Conference members can't control who they have for nine games of SEC play, and that's going to be a grueling road no matter what, but each program does decide on its own who to take on outside of conference play. The only guideline set by commissioner Greg Sankey is that SEC members need to schedule at least one Power Four opponent to go along with the new nine-game SEC slate," Gregory wrote.
"The knock on the SEC when setting up those nonconference dates is those infamous FCS cupcakes scheduled late in the season. Oregon head Dan Lanning even took a shot at that trend during the season. It's like tradition for SEC teams at this point, but newcomers Oklahoma and Texas aren't rooted in SEC heritage yet.
"Of the 16 SEC programs, OU and Texas are the only ones without an FCS opponent on their 2026 schedule. Instead, both have two Group of Five foes scheduled, along with massive games against Big Ten blue bloods. The Sooners will travel to Michigan on Sept. 12, and Texas will host Ohio State that same day."
Texas and Oklahoma should have CFP advantage over other SEC teams
Credit to the Longhorns and Sooners, though more so Texas. UTSA and Texas State are always one, by Group of 5 standards, expensive Transfer Portal class away from being in the mix. Ditto for UTEP on Oklahoma's schedule, and extra kudos for scheduling an upstart New Mexico program under Jason Eck, who just reupped with the Lobos through 2030 after a 9-3 finish this past season.
The SEC's new additions are not backing down, as Alabama did by removing the USF Bulls right before Brian Hartline's hiring to play Chattanooga instead in 2026.