Over the past month or so, a couple of SEC programs have cancelled some of their high-level non-conference games due to the SEC moving from an 8 to a 9-game conference schedule.
Unlike those teams, Texas isn't afraid of competition, and Steve Sarkisian confirmed it multiple times early on in the year. Both he and AD Chris Del Conte have confirmed on at least two different occasions that the Longhorns won't be opting out of their matchups against teams like Ohio State just because they have to play one more SEC game in 2026.
🚨 Paul Finebaum says Alabama will likely cancel its home-and-home with Ohio State (2027–28).
— The Buckeye Nut (@TheBuckeyeNut) February 10, 2026
Reason? SEC’s move from 8 to 9 conference games.
He also added that Alabama’s in a “shaky situation” and Kalen DeBoer is “in trouble.” 😬 pic.twitter.com/qh41wDsks2
Del Conte on the current non-conference schedule in an interview last week (2/4):
“I will tell you that college football is built around your regular season. Do you guys really want nice, good games in DKR? We can play three cream puffs, and we can play an SEC schedule. But if the playoff is going to expand, which I prefer the playoff expands, you want to then have great games, right, and value those great games, as long as we have an opportunity to get into postseason.
I prefer to preserve the regular season by playing great games and not dumbing down your schedule and playing nobody with the hopes that you can get in the playoff because you played nobody. If we can strengthen our regular season and keep that where our fans are engaged and want to see great games and have an expanded playoff, that’d be awesome."
As Del Conte said, the entire point of being a legitimate, high-level college football team is to play other top-level teams. It shouldn't matter what the circumstances are when it comes to conference schedule makeup.
Especially regarding a team's postseason chances, playing better teams should give you a better chance of making it to the college football playoffs.