This upcoming college football season, Texas and Oklahoma will play their first seasons in the SEC, and that leaves many wondering who will fare better, and Paul Finebaum had an interesting take, saying the Longhorns are better prepared from a roster standpoint heading into the 2024 season during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

“Texas,” Paul Finebaum said. “They're better prepared for it and I think their roster is probably inherently better. I'll defer to you guys, but I think it's pretty obvious [with] what they have across the board. I think there's some unknowns at Oklahoma… The schedules could be the equalizer because Texas' schedule is challenging. Oklahoma's is tricky. But, by the way, with the exception of maybe Missouri, we might be able to say that about everybody else in the SEC.”

Finebaum's perspective makes sense given the success that Texas football had last season, upsetting Alabama on the road and making the College Football Playoff. Texas lost to Washington in the semifinal, but a few turnovers not happening likely would have changed the outcome, and it would have been interesting to see how the Longhorns would have fared against the Michigan football team in the national championship game.

Oklahoma did not have as much success last season, but as Finebaum said, the schedule could even the scales this coming season as the Sooners and Longhorns transition to the SEC. It will be interesting to see how both teams fare after the big change.

How do the Texas and Oklahoma football schedules compare?

The schedules are interesting to compare, and Texas football's schedule is one that is clearly made for the Longhorns to prove themselves as one of the top teams in the country. Oklahoma will have that chance too, but Texas has a clear difference with its schedule, starting with the out of conference schedule.

Texas has four out of conference games against Colorado State, Michigan, UTSA and ULM before beginning SEC play. The road game against Michigan is similar to the Alabama game last season, and provides an opportunity for the Longhorns to make a statement against a top program on the road once again. Oklahoma's out of conference schedule includes Temple, Houston, Tulane and Maine, all at home. The Sooners should win all of those games.

The headliners for Texas' SEC schedule are Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida. Oklahoma has notable games against Tennessee, Texas, Alabama and LSU. It is notable that Texas avoids Alabama and LSU, but plays Georgie, which might be the best team on paper in the SEC. Oklahoma closing out the SEC schedule with games against Alabama and LSU.

As Texas and Oklahoma enter the SEC, both programs face different challenges this season due to their schedules.