The Texas Longhorns are starting the 2024 college football season in a position they’ve never held before — No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. But they barely earned the top spot in Monday’s poll, edging out Penn State in the tightest preseason vote in 26 years.
Texas collected 25 first-place votes and 1,552 points from the panel of 65 media members, finishing just five points ahead of the second-ranked Nittany Lions (23 first-place votes, 1,547 points). It’s the closest preseason race since 1998, when Ohio State edged Florida by a single point.
The Longhorns also extend the SEC’s remarkable streak of starting the season with the preseason No. 1 to five straight years — the longest in poll history. Texas joins an SEC-heavy poll that features a record 10 teams from the conference, including four in the top 10 for the second year in a row.
Texas’ early grip on No. 1 will be tested immediately. On Aug. 30, they open the season at defending national champion and No. 3 Ohio State — a rematch of last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal, where the Buckeyes won 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl.
Ohio State received 11 first-place votes in the poll, while No. 4 Clemson collected four and No. 5 Georgia earned one. No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Oregon (which got the final first-place vote), No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 LSU, and No. 10 Miami round out the top 10.
The Big Ten — winner of the past two national championships — placed two teams in the top three for the third straight year and six in the Top 25 overall. Four Big 12 teams made the cut, with defending conference champion Arizona State leading the way at No. 11. The ACC landed three ranked teams, led by Clemson.
Excitement in Texas is at a fever pitch thanks to the rise of sophomore quarterback Arch Manning, now the undisputed starter. The Longhorns’ rise under head coach Steve Sarkisian has been swift — from 5-7 in his first year in 2021 to winning 25 of their past 30 games and reaching back-to-back CFP semifinals.
Last season, Texas spent four of five weeks ranked No. 1 from mid-September to mid-October and reached the SEC Championship Game in its debut conference season. Still, this year’s No. 1 enters with just 38.5% of the first-place votes, the smallest share since Georgia in 2008 (33.9%).
Texas has finished No. 1 in the AP poll three times (1963, 1969, 2005), but had never opened a season higher than No. 2 — a mark they reached in 1962, 1965, 1970, 2005, and 2009. Now, with Manning at the helm, a loaded roster, and a schedule stacked with marquee matchups, the Longhorns have a chance to start and finish No. 1 for the first time.
The road won’t be easy, but for the first time in decades, the national spotlight is shining brightest on burnt orange.
