The Best Case Scenario For The 2026 Texas Longhorns

After narrowly missing the 12-team College Football Playoff in the 2025 season, the Texas Longhorns are out for revenge in the 2026 season, their sixth under head coach Steve Sarkisian.

After losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Florida Gators in the first four games of the season, the Longhorns spent the rest of the season essentially playing catch up, and resulted in a six-game winning streak before another loss late into the year against the Georgia Bulldogs completely doomed their championship hopes.

But now they have a fresh slate, and quarterback Arch Manning is looking better than ever, as seen with his performances in Texas' last two games of the 2025 season.

The Texas Longhorns' Best Case Scenario in 2026

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning keeps the ball and runs for a touchdown during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Longhorns are well-equipped in the 2026, especially after landing wide receiver Cam Coleman and running backs Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown courtesy of the transfer portal, and many wonder where this puts Texas' ceiling for the upcoming season.

The best case scenario for the Longhorns is pretty clear, an exact replication of what the Indiana Hoosiers were able to do this season, put together a perfect 15-0 season en route to a national championship.

Is it doable? Well, yes. Why wouldn't it be?

The perfect season will be no easy task, but then again, when has it ever been easy for a team to put one together?

As for the national championship, the only thing that really kept the Longhorns from being in the 12-team field last year was a "swampy" weekend in Gainesville against the Florida Gators, and although the Ohio State and Georgia losses surely didn't do them any favors, but those two teams did make the CFP, so those would be losses to be okay with, if that is such a thing.

The two seasons before saw the Horns make it all the way to the semifinals of the playoffs, coming up short against the Washington Huskies in 2023 and Ohio State in 2024, so it would be hard to say that the team doesn't have the championship pedigree instilled in them.

An additional high point for the season that is well within reach would be something that many expected to occur last year as well, and that would be quarterback Arch Manning winning the Heisman Trophy.

As Texas opened as the preseason No. 1 team last year, Manning shot to the top of the Heisman Trophy odds, and though it took a while for him to truly live up to those expectations, he is right back in the mix as a favorite for the prestigious honor, looking to become the first Texas Longhorn since Ricky Williams in 1998 to take the award.

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