Phil Steele affirms Oklahoma fans biggest SEC scheduling complaint compared to Texas

The Oklahoma Sooners have to deal with maybe the most difficult schedule in all of college football in 2026. Rinse and repeat.

The Sooners have been dealt a gauntlet to endure every year since joining the SEC ahead of the 2024 season. Meanwhile, Red River rival Texas joined the same year and OU fans have been trying to point out how opposite the schedules have been for the two programs. As a recent guest on The Franchise with Eddie Radosevich and Ryan Chapman, Phil Steele, one of the greatest minds in college football media, finally said out loud to confirm what OU fans have been saying this whole time.

"I think if there's a knock on Oklahoma this year, it's gotta be the schedule," Steele said. "... They've been playing the toughest schedule in the SEC the last two years. I don't know who does the scheduling for the SEC, but Oklahoma and Texas just have not had equal schedules the last couple of years."

Amen, Steele.

Sooners have been dealing with tough schedules while Longhorns cruised

Steele overall sounded confident in the Sooners in 2026 while still expecting Brent Venables to again have one of the best defenses in the country and for the offense to improve tremendously. That schedule, though, that's littered with College Football Playoff contenders and includes trips to Georgia and Michigan has Vegas setting the Sooners' win total at 7.5 and many doubting what OU can accomplish.

Based on CBS Sports’ post-spring top 25, the Sooners' upcoming schedule includes seven possible ranked matchups and five are away from Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. When USA Today re-ranked all 136 FBS teams after spring camps, the average ranking for an opponent on OU's schedule was 42 with a top-30 foe almost every week once SEC play began.

Read more: Oklahoma's 2026 schedule has all the makings for a nightmare but it's nothing new

But Venables has had to navigate such a slate for two years now already and went 10-2 last year during the regular season to reach the CFP.

Now, Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns will finally have to deal with what the Sooners have had to. On top of the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 10, Texas also has intriguing matchups set against Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU and Texas A&M. Many college football experts have went back and forth between the Sooners or Longhorns having the toughest 2026 schedule.

That's a far different looking schedule than the Longhorns had the past two seasons. It was easy to claim the hatred of OU fans led them to believe Texas had it easier, but Steele, a well-researched and unbiased voice, just confirmed what Sooner Nation already knew to be true this whole time.

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