Here's how the new SEC football scheduling format looks for the Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Southeastern Conference announced Thursday a new scheduling format for football starting in 2026, adding a ninth conference game, keeping long-standing rivalries and mandating all teams play a "high quality nonconference game."

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey outlined the plan with the main component being the addition of a ninth SEC game, saying it "increases competitive balance." The plan also requires teams to schedule a nonconference game with a team from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences, or Notre Dame to "ensure teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff."

"The SEC has established itself as the leader in delivering the most compelling football schedule in college athletics," Sankey said. "Fans will see traditional rivalries preserved, new matchups more frequently, and a level of competition unmatched across the nation."

Each school will play three rivals every year under the new format. In the case of Texas, they'll face Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown, and presumably, they'll keep the old Southwest Conference rivalry game with Arkansas. The SEC hasn't officially announced the three annual opponents for each school, but for the Longhorns, those three make the most sense.

That makes the Longhorns' 2026 schedule essentially done outside of the six remaining SEC teams they'll face on a rotating basis. Each school will face every other school in the conference at least once every two years and have home and away games with all schools every four years. The conference will continue to use a no-division structure, with a tiebreaker system deciding the top two teams to play in the championship game, if necessary.

Texas' nonconference schedule in 2026 includes three home nonconference games, starting with Texas State on Sept. 5. They'll get Ohio State in Austin on Sept. 12 and then UTSA on Sept. 19. Texas' high quality nonconference opponent in 2027 is Michigan in Austin, and in 2028 and 2029, it's Notre Dame in a home-and-home series. Texas and Arizona State are slated to play in 2032 and 2033.

The Longhorns need one more nonconference game in 2027 and two more in both 2030 and 2031. Texas takes on Louisiana Tech and UTSA along with Notre Dame in 2028, and then Louisiana Monroe and UTEP with the Fighting Irish in 2029.

The SEC has played eight conference games since 1992 when Arkansas and South Carolina joined, bumping the conference from 10 to 12 teams. There are now 16 teams in the conference with Texas and Oklahoma signing on last season.

The new scheduling format was approved by the SEC's presidents and chancellors after being recommended by SEC athletic directors.