‘Texas Truly is Back’ Expert Says of Longhorns in Latest CFP Projections
While it was once a meme used to the detriment of Longhorn fans. Now, two straight appearances in the College Football Playoff later, it can be said that Texas is indeed “back.”
And if the latest way-too-early projections for next season’s College Football Playoff rankings from USAToday’s Matt Hayes, that statement of being “back” doesn’t look set to change anytime soon. In his projections, Hayes currently sees the Longhorns making it back to the postseason, this time as the No. 6 seed.
“The buildout from coach Steve Sarkisian,” Hayes writes about the “good” for Texas. “Or the better way to say it: Texas truly is back. It’s plug and play now with elite recruitng classes (and a little help from the portal), and the expectations of winning it all are in full force with talented QB Arch Manning taking over.”
Based on the projections, Hayes does not see the Longhorns capturing their first SEC title. Rather he sees the Georgia Bulldogs taking home the SEC Championship for a second straight year and locking themselves in as the No. 2 seed.
Penn State, Georgia, Clemson, Kansas State, and Ohio State, are the only teams projected to rank above Texas. So why is that? Well, Hayes looked out the potential concerns for Texas heading into 2025.
“Slow starts and/or chasing points in big games,” Hayes writes. “The regular-season loss to Georgia in 2024, playoff losses to Washington (2023) and Ohio State (2024), and the loss to Oklahoma (2023).”
While Hayes does have some reasonable concerns like the slow starts. It is worth noting that on paper the Longhorns offense will indeed look different with Manning under center. Will he be able to provide an extra spark or edge that could see those problems go away?
That all remains to be seen. Yet, at least for now, it does seem like the consensus that Texas won’t be going anywhere when it comes to playoff contention.
