Texas' Pillow-Soft SEC Schedule Reportedly Has Some SEC Athletic Directors And Coaches Furious

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Something that was glossed over during this past college football offseason was Texas' schedule. With the college football world excited to see the Longhorns - as well as Oklahoma - join the Southeastern Conference it flew under the radar just how incredibly friendly Texas' schedule truly was.

This past weekend, the Longhorns traveled to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in what was their eighth game of the season. Texas had also already had its first bye week of the season as well, yet nine weeks into the campaign, the team's trip to Music City was their first true road game in the SEC.

Nine weeks into the season, yet just one road test in the conference has "more than a handful" of athletic directors around the conference "furious," according to USA Today's Matt Hayes.

"If you think the league’s athletic directors aren’t happy about the gift road to the SEC championship game, the conference coaches are livid," Hayes wrote.

"I spoke to three coaches this week, and each not only confirmed the rift about the laughable schedule given to Texas in its inaugural season, but each also made sure to text Georgia coach Kirby Smart and thank him for making it perfectly clear that Texas may be a member of the conference — but Texas hasn’t come close to experiencing the conference."

Texas' first season in the SEC is undoubtedly one of the easiest on paper. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Prior to the trip to Vanderbilt, Texas had left the state just once to take on Michigan in Ann Arbor in Week 2 of the season. The Longhorns followed up a win over a bad Wolverines team with home games against UTSA, UL-Monroe, and the worst team in the SEC, Mississippi State. Next came a ‘neutral site' game in Dallas against Oklahoma before Georgia came to Austin and doubled up the Longhorns 30-15.

To put Texas' oh-so-friendly schedule into even more perspective, no other team in the conference went beyond October 5 before playing a true road game in the conference.

If you subscribe to the idea that Texas, Georgia, and Alabama are the top three programs in the SEC, it's hard to look at their respective SEC road schedules and call things completely fair.

Texas has just three road conference games on the slate with Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. Alabama was handed trips to Vanderbilt, Tennessee, LSU, and Oklahoma while Georgia was tasked with visits to Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss.

Two of those schedules are nowhere close to the other.

Fans will be frustrated to know that nothing really changes next season, either, with the conference schedules remaining the same just venues switching.

Texas will have to go on the road in the SEC four times next year as opposed to three this season with trips to Mississippi State, Kentucky, Florida, and Georgia.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.