Texas Adds New Non-Conference Opponent In 2028

The Texas Longhorns will now play Louisiana Tech in 2028 for a non-conference matchup.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (5) wards off a defender while advancing the ball as the Texas Longhorns take on Mississippi State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns announced a new non-conference opponent for the 2028 football season on Thursday.

The team in question is Louisiana Tech. This will be the second time in history the two will battle.

The first matchup happened in the 2019 season opener. Playing in Austin, Texas destroyed Louisana Tech 45-14. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger had a masterclass performance completing 28 passes on 38 attempts for 276 yards and four touchdowns.

This is only the second non-conference matchup scheduled for Texas in 2028, the other one being UTSA who will be playing Texas in Austin every two years until 2030.

Texas still needs one more out-of-conference opponent for each of the 2026 and 2027 seasons with only three games scheduled so far for both seasons.

In those seasons, Texas will also play a home game against Ohio State in 2026 and a home game against 2027 Michigan, so it's likely the last opponent scheduled will not be an intimidating opponent.

Louisiana Tech, who plays in Conference USA, has not had a winning season since the 2019 season when they played Texas. They went 10-3 that season and shut out Miami FL 14-0 in the Independence Bowl.

Additionally, the Bulldogs haven't cracked the AP poll since week 12 in 2012. The highest ranking they have had in their program history is #19.

With joining the SEC, it will more than likely become more often for Texas to schedule this kind of competition instead of teams like Alabama and Michigan due to the increased competitiveness with the conference schedule of the SEC compared to the Big 12.