College Football’s Top 10 Hardest 2026 Schedules

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Ten years ago, top college football teams would play two to three tough games per regular season.

But with super conferences aggregating the top programs and NIL plus the transfer portal dispersing talent, college football programs are now playing schedules almost as difficult as the NFL.

These programs have it the worst this fall, as these are college football’s Top 10 hardest schedules for the 2026 season.

#10: Alabama Crimson Tide

Kalen DeBoer, Alabama Football — Credit: Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Key Games: vs. Florida State (9/19), vs. Georgia (10/10), at Tennessee (10/17), vs. Texas A&M (10/24), at LSU (11/7)

Kalen DeBoer is already feeling the heat in Tuscaloosa for not living up to Nick Saban’s lofty standard, and 2026 is going to be extra challenging for the third-year Bama head coach. The difficulty of Alabama’s schedule comes down to a month-long gauntlet in the middle of the season. Starting October 10th, the Crimson Tide host Georgia, play at Tennessee, host Texas A&M, and play at LSU — four teams that will likely all start the season ranked in the Top 25.

#9: Georgia Bulldogs

longest winning streak in college football — Georgia coach Kirby Smart lead the team onto the field to warm up before the start of a NCAA college football game against Ole Miss in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

Key Games: vs. Oklahoma (9/26), at Alabama (10/10), vs. Florida* (10/31), at Ole Miss (11/7), vs. Georgia Tech (11/28)

Georgia starts the season with two cupcake games against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, but there are no gimmes once the SEC schedule starts. Between hosting Oklahoma, traveling to Alabama, playing Florida in Jacksonville, and playing at Ole Miss, Georgia’s schedule is dog-gone hard.

#8: LSU Tigers

College Football — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Key Games: vs. Clemson (9/5), at Ole Miss (9/19), vs. Texas A&M (9/26), vs. Alabama (Nov. 7), vs. Texas (Nov. 14)

New head coach Lane Kiffin has preached patience, but ask any former LSU head coach how long the honeymoon period lasts in Baton Rouge. The Tigers start the season under the lights vs. Clemson and two weeks later play at Ole Miss in Kiffin’s return to Oxford and what will be the most anticipated college football game in recent memory. Hosting Alabama and Texas in back-to-back games in November rounds out a schedule that will make Kiffin earn his $91 million contract.

#7: Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M receiver Will Gunnell apologized for flipping fans the bird

Key Games: at LSU (9/26), at Alabama (10/24), vs. Tennessee (11/14), at Oklahoma (11/21), vs. Texas (11/27)

Texas A&M’s 2026 slate is going to make fans miss being in the Big 12 Conference. The last five weeks of the season are an absolute Murderer’s Row of opponents between Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas. The Aggies will really need the 12th Man to make it to the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row.

#6: Michigan Wolverines

Key Games: vs. Oklahoma (9/12), vs. Penn State (10/17), vs. Indiana (10/24), at Oregon (11/14), at Ohio State (11/28)

Kyle Whittingham is going to have his hands full in his first season in Ann Arbor. Michigan’s second game is against an Oklahoma team that made last year’s playoff. In October, the Wolverines face Penn State and defending national champion Indiana in back-to-back weeks. But the end of the season is where things get really brutal, as Michigan has to play the two best teams in the Big Ten on the road. Michigan plays at Oregon on Nov. 14 and then two weeks later, the Wolverines head to Columbus for “The Game” against Ohio State. Yikes.

#5: Mississippi State Bulldogs

Bully hit on sideline — Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Key Games: vs. Alabama (10/3), at LSU (10/17), vs. Oklahoma (10/24), at Texas (10/31), at Ole Miss (11/27)

After going just 1-15 vs. the SEC in his first two seasons in Starkville, head coach Jeff Lebby will be lucky if he can win two conference games this season. The biggest reason for that is an October slate you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy: vs. Alabama, at LSU, vs. Oklahoma and at Texas. Having to finish the season against arch-rival Ole Miss is the final blow of a brutal schedule.

#4: Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables runs onto the field before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the UTEP Miners at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Oklahoma won 45-13. — Credit: BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Key Games: at Michigan (9/12), at Georgia (9/26), vs. Texas* (10/10), vs. Ole Miss (11/14), vs. Texas A&M (11/21)

Think Oklahoma misses playing Kansas and Iowa State as an old member of the Big 12 yet? The Sooners head to Ann Arbor to face Michigan in the Big House and then have arguably the toughest back-to-back games in the country: at Georgia and vs. Texas in the Cotton Bowl. And two of OU’s final three games are against teams that played in last year’s College Football Playoff and are expected to make the 12-team field again: Ole Miss and Texas A&M.

#3: Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day and mascot Brutus walk across the field as the team arrives prior to the NCAA football game against the Grambling State Tigers at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 6, 2025.

Key Games: at Texas (9/12), at Indiana (10/17), at USC (10/31), vs. Oregon (11/7), vs. Michigan (11/28)

Ohio State has been criticized in recent years for having a soft schedule, but 2026 isn’t one of them. The Buckeyes go on the road to play at Texas in Week 2, and the Buckeyes’ Big Ten schedule is loaded. OSU has a three-game gauntlet in which it plays at Indiana, at USC, and hosts Oregon at home. And of course, the season ends with “The Game” vs. Michigan.

#2: Arkansas Razorbacks

Key Games: at Utah (9/12), vs. Georgia (9/19), at Texas A&M (10/3), at Texas (11/21), vs. LSU (11/28)

New Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield might regret leaving Memphis after this fall. Not only is he inheriting a team that went just 2-10 last season, he has also been handed an insane Year One schedule. The challenge starts with a road game in Week 2 at Utah to face a Utes team that won 10 games last season. A week later, Arkansas welcomes the mighty Georgia Bulldogs to town. A trip to Texas A&M’s Kyle Field is never easy, and finishing the season at Texas and vs. LSU is punishing.

#1: Texas Longhorns

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian — Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Key Games: vs. Ohio State (9/12), at Tennessee (9/26), vs. Oklahoma* (10/10, vs. Ole Miss (10/24), at LSU (11/14), at Texas A&M (11/27)

If Texas is going to win its first national title since 2005, the Longhorns will have to earn it. Texas plays four teams that made the 2025 College Football Playoff, and the gauntlet begins in Week 2 when the likely preseason No. 1 team in America, Ohio State, comes to Austin. Texas also begins SEC play with a road trip to Neyland Stadium and the Red River Rivalry vs. Oklahoma. And finally, UT’s last two road games are at LSU and Texas A&M, two of the toughest places in the country to play.

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