When Oklahoma and Texas left the Big 12 for the SEC, many questioned if the programs were really up for the challenge, but by Year 3, it seems they're the only ones actually embracing the conference's motto of "It just means more."
The SEC on Thursday evening released full schedules for conference members, and as schedules were analyzed, an outlier about the Sooners and Longhorns' scheduling stood out.
Oklahoma and Texas skip FCS cupcake
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.
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. OU will also play UTEP and New Mexico in Norman during the first three weeks of the season.
OU head coach Brent Venables has proclaimed multiple times the Sooners' aren't afraid of what the SEC entails, but are actually excited about the challenges. And that's obviously not just talk as the Sooners removed the only easy part of an SEC schedule.