The SEC and ESPN finalized kickoff details Tuesday for two of Texas Football’s most anticipated games on the 2026 schedule, with matchups against Ohio State and Texas A&M now officially set.
Texas will host Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 12, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC. The meeting marks the sixth all-time between the Longhorns and Buckeyes, with Ohio State holding a narrow 3-2 edge in the series. It also continues a recent trend, as the programs will face each other for the third straight season.
The national spotlight will be firmly on Austin that weekend. ESPN’s College GameDay is set to broadcast live from campus, airing from 8–11 a.m. CT. The show will feature its regular lineup, including Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, and Kirk Herbstreit, among others.
Later in the season, Texas will travel to Bryan-College Station for the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 27, at Kyle Field, with ABC carrying the broadcast.
The rivalry continues its recent return to a Thanksgiving weekend tradition. This will be the second consecutive year the game is played on the Friday following Thanksgiving, after 2025 marked the first time it had landed on that day since 2007. Historically, the matchup has frequently been tied to the holiday, with 85 of the 120 all-time meetings taking place on Thanksgiving Day or the day after.
The 2026 edition will be the 121st meeting in a series that dates back to 1894. Texas holds a 78-37-5 advantage and has won five of the last six matchups between the programs.
The Ohio State game will also add to Texas’ long history with College GameDay. Including Red River appearances and other road or neutral site matchups, it will be the 29th time the show has been on site for a Texas game and the 11th appearance over the last six seasons. It will also mark the third consecutive season that a Texas–Ohio State matchup has drawn GameDay coverage.
GameDay has previously followed the matchup across multiple locations, including Columbus for the 2025 season opener and Arlington for the 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl. The show first visited Austin for a Texas–Ohio State game back in 2006 and was also in Columbus for Texas’ 25-22 win in 2005.
The upcoming broadcast will be GameDay’s first trip to Austin since the 2024 season, when Texas hosted Georgia. Overall, the show has made 10 appearances on the Forty Acres.
Texas was a regular fixture on GameDay during the 2024 season, with the program featured a school-record five times. That stretch included stops in Ann Arbor for a win over Michigan, in Austin for a top-five showdown with Georgia, and in College Station for the Lone Star Showdown. The show also covered Texas during the SEC Championship in Atlanta and the CFP semifinal against Ohio State.
