Del Conte: Texas not currently looking to schedule Big 12 football teams after SEC move
After Texas leaves the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference this summer, don't expect to see any reunions on the football team's schedule.
At the Texas Athletics Town Hall on Tuesday, UT athletics director Chris Del Conte was asked if the Longhorns will place old rivals from the Big 12 on the football team's future schedule. Del Conte didn't shoot down the idea, but his outlook wasn't optimistic.
Del Conte explained that the SEC set-up for now calls for its teams to play eight conference games. Since Texas meets Oklahoma in Dallas each year, that means that UT would have only three home games in conference play in alternating years if the SEC continues with his scheduling plan.
In that scenario, Texas would want to schedule four non-conference games at home in order to get to its preferred allotment of seven home games in a season. It would take a marquee matchup to get Texas to back off those plans, and a home-and-home series against a Big 12 team wouldn't meet that standard.
"If they want to come play here at Texas, I'm all in," said Del Conte, who later added that playing the Big 12 schools from Texas in other sports is important to the university. "But I'm not too sure yet how we can do a home-and-home until I know how that balances out."
During the town hall, Del Conte also touched on the topic of scheduling big-name opponents. Texas will travel to Michigan this fall, and the Wolverines are set to come to Austin in 2027. Texas and Ohio State have agreed to play in 2025 and 2026.
"We are always going to play the very best," Del Conte said. "We're going to schedule the very best because we feel our brand deserves that. (Our fans) deserve that."
Those comments echo the thoughts of UT head coach Steve Sarkisian, who said last spring that "if you do win (a big non-conference game), that gains a lot of momentum and confidence for your team moving forward."
Speaking of the Michigan game, Del Conte announced that Texas is receiving only 4,000 tickets for the game at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 7. Del Conte said that Texas fans requesting those tickets will have to be Legend-level members of the Longhorn Foundation to even be considered.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Will Texas shy away from scheduling Big 12 opponents after SEC move?
