The Texas Longhorns have shown they aren't afraid to schedule tough non-conference opponents in football, starting a home-and-home series against USC this September. They have also scheduled home-and-home against LSU in 2019 and 2020. That got us thinking - what would be some marquee non-conference home-and-home's we'd like to see Texas schedule in the future? Here are the top five:
5) South Carolina Gamecocks
This may seem like a strange series, but South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp was the head-coach-in-waiting at Texas before leaving for Florida. Mack Brown left the program shortly thereafter and the Charlie Strong era followed - not great. Things may have been different under Muschamp, but this would be a fun reunion and matchup between two programs looking to get back to their peaks. It also gives Texas the chance to beat an SEC team, something all Longhorns fans would love.
South Carolina won the only time these two teams met in 1957.
4) USC Trojans
Ok, so we may be cheating by putting USC on here even though they play this season and next, but there is too much history and tradition between these two sides for them not to play more often. More often, like, every year. The 2006 National Championship Game is perhaps the best college football game ever, forever linking these two programs.
Even though they have only played five times (USC leads 4-1), there are too many reasons for them not to play more. From the opportunity for a marquee non-conference win to the recruiting opportunities (Texas is southern California, USC in Texas), they need to face off frequently.
3) Nebraska Cornhuskers
These two former conference rivals should get back on the field together soon. They played more frequently in the days of the old Big 12 - before the Huskers left for the Big Ten - but this series goes all the way back to 1934 and has been helped by the large amount of tension and distain between the two programs and fan bases. The Longhorns lead the all-time series 10-4.
2) Ohio State Buckeyes
The obvious connection here is Tom Herman, who served on Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer's staff through the 2015 national championship before taking the head coaching job at Houston. Now at Texas, it presents the perfect opportunity for these two programs to get together.
These schools previous played a home-and-home in 2005 and 2006 (the winner went to the national title game each time) before facing off in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl. The Longhorns won the first and last of those games. With Herman in Austin, it presents the perfect opportunity for a few more of these marquee matchups.
1) Texas A&M Aggies
Kind of obvious, right? The fact that these two programs haven't played since the Aggies left for the SEC in 2011 is an absolute joke. We don't have to tell you how heated this in-state rivalry is - it's a series that really needs to be revitalized. They started playing in 1894 and Texas leads the series 76–37–5.
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