College Football: Preseason Top 25 Projections

Last year, Texas was ranked in the preseason at No. 23 in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. Then they went on and promptly lost to Maryland 51-41 in the home opener to drop out of the polls in a lackluster 7-6 campaign in Tom Herman‘s first year at the helm. The year before, the Longhorns were unranked in the preseason but vaulted to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 after taking down then-No. 10 Notre Dame. That quickly faded away as Charlie Strong’s final season ended 5-7 without a bowl appearance.

It is natural that powerhouses sometimes enjoy an advantage built into the minds of pollsters. The coaches already put Texas at No. 21 in their poll this year. The AP will probably follow suit, placing the Longhorns somewhere in the low 20s. Sam Ehlinger seems the likeliest candidate to snag the starting role full-time. Either he or Shane Buechele needs to seize the job and lead the team if Texas is going to remain in the AP Top 25 more than a few weeks this season.

The defense needs to rebuild a bit now that Malik Jefferson is now donning a different shade of orange with the Cincinnati Bengals and DeShon Elliott is also in the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens.. Texas is one of a handful of teams with a decent shot at taking the Big 12 this year if everything falls right. If they beat USC in a marquee non-conference matchup at home in mid-September, we’ll know that Herman has them on the right track.