2016 Texas Longhorn football schedule released

The Texas Longhorns will begin the 2016 season much like the 2015 campaign but the team will be hoping for, and expecting, better results.

The Big 12 conference released the schedules of all 10 teams for the 2016 season on Tuesday. For the Longhorns, three of the first four games will be against the same opponents as this season.

Texas will open the year, at Darrell K. Royal Stadium, against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Texas, and its fans, will look to avenge their 38 to 3 loss to the Irish in South Bend. An anemic Longhorn offense managed to tally just eight first downs and failed to score a touchdown in the game. 

The Horns will then welcome the UTEP Miners to DKR the following week. The Longhorns and Miners have played each other a total of four times, with Texas winning all four contests. The last meeting between the two teams was in 2009 when the Horns blasted UTEP 64 to 7. 

Texas will be seeking revenge for the second time in three weeks when they travel the west coast to face off against the California Golden Bears. The Longhorns fell to Cal 45 to 44 after Nike Rose failed to convert an extra point with just over a minute left in the game. Jerrod Heard will be looking to build upon a school record 527 total yards when the two teams lock up once again.

Big 12 conference play for the Horns will open up on October 1 with the Oklahoma State Cowboys for a second straight season. The Horns will make the trip north to Stillwater seeking to knock off a strong Okie State squad. Despite committing 16 penalties the Horns lead the Cowboys until the very end, losing on a last-second field goal 30 to 27.

FOX 7's Dennis de la Pena sums up the theme of the 2016 season with this tweet:

The Longhorns will continue their rivalry with the Oklahoma Sooners on October 8 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Horns stunned Oklahoma, and the nation, with a 24 to 17 win over the Sooners. UT's defense stepped up in a big way forcing six sacks and eight tackles for loss, giving Charlie Strong his biggest win as coach of the Horns.

Coach Strong and his team will be back at home on October 15 with a game against Iowa State and then on the road the following week to take on Kansas State.

Texas will then welcome the Baylor Bears back to DKR on October 29. Baylor head coach Art Briles and his Bears have beaten the Longhorns for two consecutive seasons.

UT will then travel to Lubbock to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders and follow that game with a home contest against West Virginia. 

The Longhorns will play their final road game of 2016 on November 19 in Lawrence, Kansas against the Kansas Jayhawks. 

Texas will close its 2016 season on Thanksgiving, at home, against the TCU Horned Frogs.