College football’s preseason buzz is starting to build, and Josh Pate thinks the first AP Poll will have Texas sitting at the very top.
Pate, who isn’t an AP voter, offered his projection for how the preseason rankings will shake out, and he landed on the Longhorns as the No. 1 team. That call comes even with plenty of other contenders drawing attention, including Notre Dame, Ohio State, and defending champs Indiana.
“I think it's going to be Texas, …” Pate said. “I think they're going to go a repeat of the number one team they had last year, which ended up not making the playoff, by the way. So this is my best guess, this is my best approximation.”
Texas being in the mix is hardly a shock. Even after a 10-3 season that ended without a College Football Playoff berth, the Longhorns are back in the preseason spotlight.
There’s plenty feeding that optimism in Austin. Steve Sarkisian responded to last season by reshaping his staff, adding defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, defensive passing game coordinator Blake Gideon, and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke.
Texas also attacked the transfer portal after an offense that had talent but didn’t get enough help from the line and supporting cast around Arch Manning. The Longhorns brought in Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman, Arizona State running back Raleek Brown, NC State running back Hollywood Smothers, and offensive linemen Melvin Siani and Dylan Sikorski, among others.
The defense got its share of reinforcements too, with linebacker Rasheem Biles, cornerback Bo Mascoe, and defensive tackle Ian Geffrard all joining the mix under Muschamp’s new-look unit.
With the No. 10-ranked portal class according to ON3 and another top-10 high school recruiting class, Texas has plenty going for it entering the new season. The schedule is tough, but the preseason hype is real.
In Other News...
Texas Fans May Already Need To Brace For Austin Goosby Exit
Sean Millers latest recruiting win already comes with a familiar modern-college-basketball asterisk. Texas landed five-star combo guard Austin Goosby, giving the Longhorns another elite backcourt piece to build around, but the buzz around his arrival is arriving alongside the usual questions about how long a player of that caliber might stay on campus. In a sport where top freshmen are increasingly treated as short-term difference-makers, Texas fans are already being asked to think about both the upside and the timeline.
An ESPN 2027 NBA Mock Draft only sharpened that reality by placing Goosby in the kind of first-round conversation that can change a programs plans fast if his freshman season goes well. Texas has lived through this before with elite recruits who flashed star potential and moved on quickly, and Goosby now enters Austin with the same kind of attention that comes with being more than just a college addition. The Longhorns are happy to have him now, but the longer-term question is whether theyll have him long enough to fully reap it. [Read more 🡒]
Texas May Be Losing Another Key Piece Of Its 2027 Class
Karnell Greedy James, the four-star defensive back who has been committed to Texas since December, is set to make his final college decision live on Thursday, and the Longhorns are suddenly having to sweat out another key piece of their 2027 class. LSU and Notre Dame are also in the mix, but the latest buzz around James has turned this into more than a routine recruiting watch for Texas.
The concern is not just the uncertainty around one defensive back. LSU has also stayed in the picture for Texas five-star wide receiver commit Easton Royal, giving the Tigers a chance to make this a much bigger story for the Longhorns if the momentum keeps moving the wrong way. For Texas, it is another reminder that even a class with plenty of promise can be vulnerable when other heavyweights start pushing late. [Read more 🡒]
Mack Brown Just Raised The Stakes For Arch Manning At Texas
Arch Manning heads into the 2026 college football season as Texas starting quarterback with far more than name recognition attached to him now. His 2025 season gave the Longhorns a real look at what he can become, and it also gave him a platform to start showing the kind of steady command that matters in Austin, where expectations never sit still for long.
Mack Brown only added to that buzz by pointing to Mannings growth and leadership during the year, a reminder that the conversation around the quarterback is shifting from pedigree to proof. For Texas, the next step is bigger than simply replacing a famous family name - it is about Manning continuing to build a legacy that feels like his own, with the stakes rising every time he takes the field. [Read more 🡒]