The 2026 schedule for Texas volleyball continues to take shape after the recent release of the SEC slate and the announcement of another marquee nonconference match.
The SEC released home-and-away dates for each team, with start times coming at a later date. Texas will play eight home matches at Gregory Gymnasium and seven on the road during the conference season.
The Longhorns will open SEC play Sept. 25 at Tennessee followed by a Sept. 27 match at Kentucky, two of the four SEC teams that finished in the final 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. Texas will make its conference home debut the following weekend, hosting Mississippi State on Oct. 2 and Alabama on Oct. 4.
Texas returns to the road for matches at Arkansas (Oct. 9) and Oklahoma (Oct. 11). The Longhorns will host Auburn (Oct. 16) and Florida (Oct. 18) before traveling to South Carolina (Oct. 25). Texas will then return to Gregory Gym to host Georgia Oct. 28, the only midweek match on the conference schedule. The Longhorns will host defending national champion Texas A&M on Nov. 1.
Texas faces road matches at Missouri (Nov. 6) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 8) before closing out the regular season at home against Ole Miss (Nov. 13) and LSU (Nov. 15).
The 2026 SEC season will conclude with the SEC Volleyball Tournament for Nov. 20-24 at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia.
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Texas officials recently announced that the Longhorns will travel to Dallas to face SMU on Sept. 9 at Moody Coliseum as part of the ACC/SEC Showdown at the Net. The match will mark the Longhorns’ first trip to Dallas since 2004 and the third all-time meeting between the programs in the city. Texas is 1-1 on the road against SMU, with the lone loss in the series coming in 2000.
Texas holds a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series and has won each of the last four meetings. The teams last met in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, where the Longhorns swept SMU in Austin to advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals. All six matches in the series have been decided in straight sets.
Last season, SMU finished 27-6 and No. 11 in the final AVCA poll.
The match against SMU adds to a power-packed schedule for Texas, which finished last season 26-4 overall and a No. 7 spot in the final rankings. Overall, the Longhorns currently will face seven teams that ranked in last season’s final AVCA poll.
The Longhorns open the 2026 season at the AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee, part of a four-day showcase at Fiserv Forum. Texas will face Arizona State (No. 12 in final AVCA poll) on Aug. 22 before taking on Marquette on Aug. 24.
Texas will play Louisville (No. 9) in the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party Sept. 6 in Nashville, Tenn., and Wisconsin (No. 5) Sept. 13 at Moody Center in Austin. The Longhorns will also play Nebraska, according to Cornhuskers coach Dani Busboom Kelly. Texas officials have not yet confirmed the match against Nebraska.
The Longhorns’ SEC schedule features three teams ranked in last season’s final AVCA poll, including No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 2 Kentucky and No. 24 Tennessee.