ESPN predicts Texas football finishes 2nd in Big 12 in 2020

The 2020 college football preview and predictions for the Big 12 had the Texas football program finishing second in the conference standings.

A lot of the preseason predictions are in this week for how the top programs are going to fall in line by the end of the 2020 college football season. But with so much change and volatility ongoing for this season, in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s easy to see how things could be be shaken up week-by-week much more than usual. Still, the Texas football program comes into the 2020 season with very high expectations of really contending to win the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time under the direction of fourth-year head coach Tom Herman.

And once again, there is a lot of hype backing the Longhorns for the season. Texas came into the year with a ranking in the preseason AP Poll and Coaches Poll at No. 14. That ranking did include all of the PAC-12 and Big Ten teams that aren’t planned to play a football season this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Texas does have high expectations this fall, getting through this Big 12 slate unscathed won’t be easy. The 2020 offseason already had a ton of twists and turns in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot of social activism around the country and the globe, and now the Longhorns have to pick up and somehow focus on the looming football season ahead.

But most are favoring the Longhorns to at least be one of the two teams playing in the Big 12 Championship Game this fall. ESPN’s predictions for how the Big 12 will shape up in the 2020 season has Texas finishing in second in the conference standings this season, behind only the rival Oklahoma Sooners.

To round out the top five in the projected Big 12 standings for this year, ESPN had (in order from top-to-bottom) the Oklahoma State Cowboys, TCU Horned Frogs, and then the Iowa State Cyclones. It looks as if the Oklahoma schools are set to be the biggest competition for the Longhorns this year.

This preview piece from ESPN also had the annual Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma as the “Game of the year” in the Big 12. ESPN mentioned that the Longhorns falling short against second-year head coach Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats would be the “Upset of the year” in the Big 12.

Texas opens up their 2020 season on Sep. 12 at home against the UTEP Miners out of the Conference-USA. UTEP comes into this game with a 1-0 record after knocking off the FCS Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in their season opener back on Sep. 5.