The college football preseason AP Top 25 poll has been released, and the University of Texas will open the 2025 season as the No. 1 team in the nation.
This comes at no surprise as Texas has had a lot of hype around their program over the last couple of seasons, including a ton of success to back it up.
Since taking over the Longhorns football program in 2021, Head Coach Steve Sarkisian has steadily rebuilt the team into a championship contender. In his first season, Texas finished 5–7 overall (3–6 in Big 12 play), but showed solid improvement in 2022, going 8–5 (6–3 in conference). Year three under Sarkisian marked a major leap forward, as the Longhorns emerged as legitimate College Football Playoff contenders. They closed out the 2023 season—Texas’s final year in the Big 12—with a 12–2 record (8–1 in conference) and a CFP semifinal appearance, where they fell to 2-seed Washington 37–31. Still, the program had firmly reestablished itself in the national conversation.
Texas carried that momentum into its first season as a member of the SEC in 2024, finishing 13–3 (7–1 in conference) with an SEC Championship Game appearance, narrowly losing to Georgia 22–19. The Longhorns earned a second consecutive CFP berth, defeating 12-seed Clemson 38–24 and 4-seed Arizona State 39–31 before falling to eventual national champion 8-seed Ohio State 28–14 in the semifinals.
The Longhorns’ recruiting efforts under Steve Sarkisian have been nothing short of spectacular. Despite the transition in leadership when Sarkisian took over, Texas still secured the nation’s 15th-ranked class, according to 247Sports. From there, the program’s recruiting success only accelerated. Since 2022, the Longhorns have consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally—finishing 5th in 2022, 3rd in 2023, 6th in 2024, and reaching the pinnacle with the No. 1 class in 2025.
It’s safe to say Steve Sarkisian has done an outstanding job across the board during his tenure as Texas’ head coach. The preseason No. 1 ranking not only enhances his legacy, but also marks a historic milestone for the Longhorns—it’s the first time in program history they’ve opened a season ranked No. 1.