Texas has already accomplished so much in 2026, slaying Ohio State with that mammoth comeback in Week 2 and ascending to the No. 1 spot in the country in both the AP and Coaches polls.
But it’s still only September, and the Longhorns still have so much more to navigate as they try to win it all in late January. The challenges will be coming fast and furious as Texas begins the SEC gauntlet this Saturday with a Week 4 high noon showdown in Knoxville against another ranked SEC team that wears a different kind of orange.
That would be 14th-ranked Tennessee, who will host the team that wears burnt orange at a rocking Neyland Stadium in the noon ET kickoff on ABC. All eyes will be on Arch Manning as he tries to follow up that Ohio State comeback with a road win as both teams play their SEC openers.
The pressure will be sky-high, and Texas will have the added pressure of being a slight road favorite in the battle of 3-0 teams. The Week 4 opening lines were revealed on Sunday afternoon, and the Horns are a 5.5-point favorite to go into Knoxville and come out alive with a 4-0 record.
Here is that spread along with the rest of the opening lines for the final college football Saturday in September:
Texas and Tennessee will be battling in Week 4, but they’ll also be battling for something else that’ll be decided later this season — the SEC title. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about both teams’ chances to lift that SEC trophy in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
