Never started number one

[Philip Barber]

Texas will earn its first preseason AP No. 1 ranking in program history

Sometimes I’ll come across a stat on Sports Reference that’s so stunning that I have to check 6 different places to verify it. While working on a story about why Texas should not want to be the preseason No. 1 team in the AP Poll — that stems entirely from the fact that the preseason No. 1 failed to win a national title 19 out of the last 20 seasons — I stumbled on something that blew my mind. Texas has never been a preseason No. 1 team in the AP Poll. It’s been close. It was the preseason No. 2 in 2009, 2005, 1970, 1965 and 1962, but since the preseason AP Poll became a thing in 1950, it never held that No. 1 spot entering the season. 

This year, that finally changes. It was picked to win the SEC, which has been the preamble for the preseason AP No. 1 team each of the last 4 years. Yeah, maybe that’s a bit because of the Arch Manning hype, but a team riding consecutive Playoff semifinal trips that returns a wealth of talent on defense would be worthy of that honor. Well, I suppose recent history suggests it’s a bit more of a dubious honor.
 

First time maybe

[Gerry Hamilton]

I bet AP Poll has Texas starting at No. 2 

But I'm also not a better!