Texas Football: Sporting News ranks Longhorns in preseason top 15

Sporting News seems to be pretty high on the Texas football program entering a pivotal 2020 season for head coach Tom Herman.

The expectations for the Texas football program in the fourth-year under head coach Tom Herman are going to be really high again. For the second straight year, the Longhorns could be looking at a preseason top 15 ranking in the major polls. A lot of media outlets are positioning a talented returning Longhorns roster in the top 20, if nothing else, in the midst of the 2020 offseason.

One of the national media outlets that appears to be higher on the Longhorns for the looming 2020 college football season is Sporting News. Bill Bender of Sporting News recently released his latest preseason projections for the 2020 season, including his updated early top 25 rankings.

Sporting News’ Bender ranked the Longhorns at No. 13 in their latest preseason poll. Texas actually was placed right above one of the other highest ranked Big 12 teams, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who rang in at No. 14. There were a few other Big 12 teams ranked inside the top 25 too, but we’ll get to those in a moment.

Here’s what Bender had to say about placing Texas at 13 on his most updated top 25.

"We’re not going to say that three-word catch-phrase out loud, but perhaps we were a little early. Sam Ehlinger returns for his senior season, and the Longhorns’ young talent showed how good they can be in the Alamo Bowl victory against Utah. Receivers Brennan Eagles and Jake Smith should thrive in increased roles, and the offensive line will be better. The defense will be improved around linebacker Joseph Ossai, who had 13.5 tackles for loss in 2019. It comes down to winning those close games: The Longhorns have six losses of seven points or fewer the last two seasons. The Sept. 12 trip to LSU will come with the same hype as it did in 2019. Will Texas live up to it?"

Sporting News seems to be higher on the defense than usual, and believes some form of the hype that the Longhorns will return to the Big 12 Championship Game this fall. Another reason why Texas is ranked as high as they are here is the hype behind rising senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger. He’s ranked as the fourth best quarterback in the country here.

Texas has heightened expectations once again coming into the 2020 season. Sporting News is not the only media outlet that has that opinion.

The other Big 12 teams that made it into this top 25 ranking were the Oklahoma schools. Oklahoma State rang in at No. 14, and the Oklahoma Sooners were the highest ranked from the Big 12 at No. 8. That would make Oklahoma the favorite to win the Big 12 again this fall in Bender’s eyes, which isn’t surprising given their reign over the conference lately.

Texas finished up their 2019 season with a record of 8-5 (5-4 Big 12) after knocking off the No. 11 ranked Utah Utes in the Alamo Bowl by the final score of 38-10. They open the 2020 season against the South Florida Bulls at home on Sep. 5.