USA Today: Texas is just a placeholder No. 1 seed in the preseason AP rankings

[Blake Munroe]

Link to article at bottom of story….

Good morning, and welcome back to The Morning Win. If you're a Texas Longhorns fan, it's more like a great morning. For the first time in school history, your football team is the preseason AP No. 1-ranked team in the country. Life is good for the Longhorns, who continue an upward trend after consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff. And now the Arch Manning era is officially here to push them over the top.

Unfortunately for Steve Sarkisian's squad, that reign at the top isn't expected to last very long. In fact, Texas may not make it past the first game with a "1" next to its name.

Opening their season on the road against the preseason No. 3-ranked team, Ohio State, the Longhorns are actually underdogs in Week 1. Despite holding top odds to win the national championship at +475 at BetMGM, they're getting 2.5 points and +110 odds on the moneyline for the opener in Columbus. Absolutely wild for a team everyone expects to be the best in college football.

Unless the line flips, Texas will be the first No. 1 team to open a season as an underdog.

On one hand, this is really cool. It's nice that we'll get to see two amazing teams square off this early in the season in a rematch of the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl. On another, it's quite meaningless... these teams will be drastically different at the end of the season (likely for the better) than they will be in the opener. There won't be much we can glean from a game on Aug. 30.

Regardless, a loss will no doubt flip these teams' place in the AP rankings. And if Ohio State grabs the top spot, it won't likely relinquish it until hitting the heart of its conference schedule in mid-October, at the earliest. Considering the SEC gauntlet Texas has to play, the Longhorns may never get that top seed back -- no matter how the Buckeyes play.

So, enjoy this little bit of history while you can, Texas. There's a chance it doesn't last long. But hey, there's always a national championship to play for at the end of the year.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/2025/08/12/college-football-preseason-ap-rankings-texas/85625290007/

[Blake Munroe]

Yes, Texas is the underdog here. That could change in the next two weeks, even though I don’t expect it to. It might go down to -1 or -1.5 tOSU. 

For the OTF crowd who doesn’t gamble… usually playing at home accounts for 3 to 3.5 points of the point spread. 

This game is a pick em (at worst)/slight Texas lean on a neutral field and Texas is the favorite if it were being played in Austin. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the stat is slightly skewed because most No. 1 teams don’t open the season with a top 3 matchup on the road. That never happens. 

[4thandFive]

1. Don’t gamble 

2. Texas gonna HookEm and stay #1

[bourbasted]

If I'm Sark, I'm posting this shizz on the bulletin board straight away.  Nice of Grimes to give us the motivating material.  Show this to Arch & Simmons every morning until gameday.