Texas Reports to Fall Camp With No Shortage of Championship Pressure

The 2026 US LBM Coaches Poll preseason Top 25 rankings were released on Tuesday. Not surprisingly, the Texas Longhorns found themselves at the top of it, slotting in at No. 4 behind the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, and Georgia Bulldogs, respectively.

Texas wasn't the top-ranked SEC team, since they lost more games than Georgia in 2025 and lost to the Dawgs head-to-head in the regular season. That was understandable. But No. 4 is still a major statement from the coaches poll voters. There are expectations to have close proximity to the national championship game.

With the usual caveat that preseason polls don't mean much -- since, let's not forget, the Longhorns were No. 1 last year, James Franklin's Penn State Nittany Lions were No. 2, and the Clemson Tigers were No. 4, and none of them made the CFP -- Texas is now under the gun.

Texas is Expected to Make The SEC Championship Game

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Longhorns received 57 championship votes in the 2026 SEC Football Preseason Media Poll. By virtue of being No. 4, right behind UGA, there's a pretty clear expectation for Texas to make the SEC Championship Game based on the coaches' poll's results.

With as tough a season as the Longhorns have, facing the No. 3-5 (Ole Miss Rebels, Texas A&M Aggies, LSU Tigers) and 7-10 (Oklahoma Sooners, Tennessee Volunteers, Florida Gators, Missouri Tigers) teams in the SEC Football Preseason Media Poll, they may not need to make the SEC Championship Game to make the CFP. Of course, the schedule might not play out as many of us thought, and it could either become easier or harder once the games are played.

Still, it'd be nice for Texas to get back and finally get over the Georgia hump, if that's what it takes.

Steve Sarkisian Can Use a Legacy Season in the SEC

Sarkisian has not shied away from complaining about the schedule. If he can overcome it, though, he could buy a lot of goodwill for himself. All the complaining would then just become good marketing if he makes the slate look easy.

Sark could use that kind of legacy season in the SEC. With the conference scheduling moving to nine games, the Longhorns could further establish themselves in the conference in this bold new era. Texas and Ole Miss are the only SEC schools to make the semis since the CFP expanded in 2024.

If the Longhorns can't win football games, well, Sarkisian would have a lot of answering to do behind the scenes. The expectations have been set, the money has been spent in a historic manner in the transfer portal, might I add, and Arch Manning is getting close to NFL maturity.

If it doesn't happen this year, Sarkisian might not have forever to make it happen on the Forty Acres.

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