Six takeaways from the 2024 Texas football schedule
The SEC schedule complete with dates was released Wednesday night. No doubt it has Texas fans fired up for the team’s inaugural season in the Southeastern Conference.
The schedule is about as favorable as they could make it while being fair to other teams across the league. Perhaps only Texas A&M, who avoids both Georgia and Alabama and gets Texas at home, has the only easier schedule on the western side of the conference.
Here’s a look at the complete schedule.
Colorado State
at Michigan
UTSA
Mississippi State
BYE
at Oklahoma (home)
Georgia
at Vanderbilt
BYE
at Arkansas
at Texas A&M
Texas will face its fair share of top opponents. The Longhorns face the Michigan Wolverines in Week 2 in what will surely carry one of the bigger television audiences of the season. By midseason, Texas faces Oklahoma and Georgia in back to back games.
Let’s look at a few takeaways from what seems to be a manageable first SEC schedule.
10 wins and you're in
Texas probably can make a 12-team expanded College Football Playoff with a 10-2 record. It made a 4-team playoff with an 11-1 regular season record. The Longhorns face two perennial playoff contenders in Michigan and Georgia, both of which they are facing by choice rather than compulsion. The Longhorns chose to join the SEC for big time matchups. In addition, they face an Oklahoma squad that should be strong. They later face two bitter rivals, Arkansas and Texas A&M, on the road in November.
Three potential top five matchups
Three games on Texas’ schedule could end up as top five matchups: the road trip to face Michigan, Oklahoma in Dallas and Georgia in Austin. Texas and Michigan should start the year in the Top 5 barring a playoff embarrassment or significant portal losses for either team. Oklahoma faces a favorable enough first five games that it could enter the Cotton Bowl with a 5-0 record. And Georgia might simply continue to be the Georgia team we have come to expect over the last three seasons.
Oklahoma, then Georgia
The Oklahoma game comes right before the Georgia game this season. It sets the tone for how I believe Texas should approach the 2024 season. Texas should prioritize beating Oklahoma over Georgia during its bye week.
Heading into the 2023 season I would have traded a loss to Oklahoma for a dominant win over Alabama. Why? Look where Texas is playing on Jan. 1. In the big picture, the loss to Oklahoma didn’t matter. The win over Alabama means everything. It changed the perception around the program and lifted Texas to the playoff. The perception is changed. Now, the Longhorns need to start treating the Sooners as equals. If they do, they should get back in the win column of the rivalry next season.
Underrated November
Texas does not face any late season cupcakes like many of their new conference members like to do. The Longhorns face Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M to end the season. None of the above four should win more than nine games and even that seems like a stretch. Even so, the Longhorns should get tested and could emerge a better team for facing this November slate.
Rivalries renewed
It doesn’t get any better than Arkansas and Texas A&M two weeks apart to end the regular season in November. Rest assured, the Arkansas game will carry more meaning that its perceived one sided rivalry billing would indicate. These games mean something, and they are much easier rivalries to get excited about than forced rivalries like Texas Tech and Iowa State to end the season.
Thumbs down
We’re familiar with horns down and thumbs down, or the inversion of both Texas and Texas A&M’s hand signs, but the Aggies are actually down. It’s unclear how down of a year the team will have after a portal exodus and coaching upheaval. Nevertheless, new Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko will have to face a Texas team coming off a playoff berth in his first season.
If Elko is simply continuing the structure former head coach Jimbo Fisher had in College Station, playing competitive football might not be an issue. Another eight or nine win season could be on the way. Albeit, Texas A&M wants titles and to do that the Aggies might need to tear it all down and restart like Texas did in 2021. If they do, this matchup could get ugly.
