It's become a well-known tradition for college football fans to look ahead to the next season with way-too-early polls and early national championship game odds, and Texas football is one of the favorites for the 2025 campaign.
Texas football projected as one of the way-too-early favorites for the 2025-26 College Football Playoff National Championship
The 2024-25 college football season ended with the eight-seed Ohio State Buckeyes defeating the seven-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Jan. 20.
In the second season for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns in the SEC, Texas is in the conversation among the top projected contenders for the 2025-26 CFP National Championship. When Texas turns the page to start the Arch Manning era, the Longhorns are expected to be back in the Playoff for the third year in a row next season.
Despite the Longhorns losing a lot of key starters on each side of the ball, Texas does still have a talented group of skill players returning on offense, and a core group of stars along the defensive front (i.e., linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and edge rusher Colin Simmons).
The goal for the Longhorns next season will be finally getting past the hurdle of the CFP semifinals game in the postseason. It will be up to Arch and Texas's returning core group on defense to lead this team past that lingering hurdle in the postseason for the 2025-26 campaign.
In the way-too-early betting odds for the 2025-26 college football national championship, Ohio State is favored to repeat to win the title, with the Longhorns and Oregon Ducks in a tie for second place (per FanDuel).
Here are the top 10 college football teams with the highest odds to win the 2026 national championship.
1. Ohio State (+450)
T-2. Texas (+650)
T-2. Oregon (+650)
4. Georgia (+700)
5. Penn State (+850)
6. Notre Dame (+1200)
7. Alabama (+1600)
T-8. Tennessee (+1800)
T-8. Clemson (+1800)
10. LSU (+2000)
Sarkisian and the Longhorns open the 2025 regular season with a rematch of the College Football Playoff national semis at the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State in Columbus. Texas is an early 4.5-point underdog for the season opener in Columbus against Ohio State next fall.
Texas finished up the 2024 season with a record of 13-3 (7-2 SEC), and ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll.