Gene Chizik highlights Oklahoma, Texas as SEC teams with toughest stretch on 2026 schedule

Playing a nine-game conference schedule is nothing new for Texas or Oklahoma. Those games were as members of the Big 12 and not the SEC, though. A different beast is expected beginning in the 2026 season, with the schedule being released on Thursday.

Oct. 3 brings a bye week for both teams before heading to Dallas for the Red River Shootout. Including the game at the Cotton Bowl, eight straight SEC games will take place for the two. As a result, SEC Network analyst Gene Chizik deemed the Longhorns and Sooners to have the toughest stretch throughout the conference.

“They both have an early bye week,” Chizik said on the schedule reveal show. “You can look at the people on their schedule and say, ‘They’re playing so and so, so and so.’ … If you’re playing in this league, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. If you’ve got a league game, it’s going to be a tough one. Both of these teams, Texas and OU — yes, they get a bye before they play each other, that’s great.

“What is the downside? That they have to finish the season with eight straight SEC games when it means the most. No rest, no bye weeks, nothing. An eight-game run for Texas and OU. That’s tough sledding, I don’t care who you’re playing.”

Part of the equation is where the next seven games are after playing in Dallas. Oklahoma plays four games in Norman, the same for Texas. However, three of those for Steve Sarkisian‘s team are in October. Three of the last four are away from home and OU sees a little bit more balance.

At the end of the day, every team in the SEC is going to have a brutal stretch at some point. Only one bye week falling on the schedule differs from 2023 and 2024, where every team in college football had at least two. A quirk comes to the end and makes things a whole lot harder.

However, Chizik felt like getting eight SEC games in a row was enough to shout out Texas and Oklahoma. The former is hoping to get back in the College Football Playoff after missing out, while the latter wants to make it back-to-back appearances.

Doing so with an eight-game SEC schedule was hard enough. Now, the Red River clubs are set to do that in one stretch of its schedule, adding onto tough nonconference slates.