Texas football at No. 16 in projected preseason AP Poll

It will not be long before we know how both of the major preseason polls will shake out for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program ahead of the start of the 2022 regular season. Texas already landed at No. 18 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, which was released last week.

That No. 18 slotting for Sark and the Longhorns in the preseason Coaches Poll also included a first-place vote, which looked like a trolling job from another college football coach.

Yet, some projections have rolled in ahead of the start of the upcoming regular season of what the preseason AP Poll could look like. The most recent one came from Brad Crawford of 247Sports on Aug. 13, which projected the Longhorns at No. 16 in the preseason AP Poll.

This would mean Sark and the Longhorns fall in line two spots higher in the preseason AP Poll than the Coaches Poll. That would also be five spots higher for Texas than in the last year’s preseason AP Poll, which slotted them at No. 21.

Texas football and Steve Sarkisian projected as the No. 16 team in preseason AP Poll

Here’s more on what this piece from Crawford of 247Sports this weekend had to say about the projection of the Longhorns at No. 16 for the preseason AP Poll.

"Yes, Texas received a first-place vote from someone who had a ballot in the Coaches Poll. Don’t expect the same to happen in the AP. However, as a whole, the Longhorns may be ranked higher collectively. No matter who starts at quarterback between Quinn Ewers and Hudson Card, Texas will be fine offensively moving the chains through Bijan Robinson and Xavier Worthy. It’s the other side of the football that is the bigger issue and likely holds this team back from being conference title-caliber this fall."

Once again, redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers was tabbed as an x-factor for the Longhorns for the upcoming season. Whether it is Ewers or junior Hudson Card that is named as the starting quarterback by Sark coming out of fall camp, that player will clearly be a major critical factor for this team’s success in the win column this season.

It is also worth noting that the Texas defense was mentioned as a big-time focal point for this team’s possible success in the Big 12 this season. This 247Sports projection of the preseason AP Poll noted that multiple insiders are skeptical about the production of the Texas defense this fall.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 5-7 (3-6 Big 12), missing out on bowl season for the first time since 2016. Sark and the Longhorns will open up the 2022 regular season at home on Sep. 3 against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, with the kickoff time set for 7 p.m. CT.