Way-too-early CFP prediction gives Texas an in-state clash fans would never see coming

With all of the various 2026 predictions being released for college football, it's fun to go around to each member of the national media and see what they have to say about things. Last night, On3's Brett McMurphy dropped his "way-too-early" 2026 College Football Playoffs projections, and it's pretty interesting.

One of the best parts about everybody's predictions is seeing which G5 teams make it into the CFP, and McMurphy has a pretty surprising in-state program in his. They also just so happen to be Texas' first-round opponent in this scenario.

UTSA was not only bad in 2025, but they're losing a ton of talent as well heading into 2026, especially on offense. I'd be incredibly interested to see why he believes the Roadrunners will have such a great season in 2026.

Regardless, this would most likely be the best-case scenario for Texas, as they get an easier opponent to open things up before getting down to the nitty-gritty against a team like Miami. As we saw in this year's CFP circuit, the Hurricanes didn't have the chops to hang with a team like Indiana.

The Longhorns are heading into 2026 with a far superior team than in 2025, and the sky is the limit for Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning. The amount of talent the team added on the offensive side of the ball should completely fix the issues that they were having last season.

Adding Melvin Siani, Laurence Seymore, Dylan Sikorski, and Jonte Newman along the offensive line should be able to remedy the offensive line woes that plagued them for nearly the entire year.

Stay tuned as there should be more intriguing CFP predictions to break down in the near future!