The Texas Longhorns will enter the 2026 college football season ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP Top 25, placing Steve Sarkisian’s program in a prominent place among national championship hopefuls. Texas received 1,483 points in the voting and trails only Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia and Notre Dame in the opening poll. The ranking sets a high baseline for the Longhorns as they prepare for another demanding SEC slate, with expectations again centered on competing for a College Football Playoff berth.
Ohio State, the Longhorns’ Week 2 opponent, opens at No. 1 with 1,672 points and 40 first-place votes, followed by Oregon at No. 2 with 1,597 points and 14 first-place votes. Georgia is No. 3, Notre Dame is No. 4, Texas is No. 5, Indiana is No. 6, Miami is No. 7, Texas A&M is No. 8, Ole Miss is No. 9 and Oklahoma rounds out the top 10. Texas and Texas A&M are the only two programs from the state of Texas in the preseason top 10, while Texas Tech checks in at No. 12. The Southeastern Conference landed seven teams in the Top 25.
The Longhorns open their schedule on Saturday, September 5 against the Texas State Bobcats in Austin.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | First-Place Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | 0-0 | 1,672 | 40 |
| 2 | Oregon | 0-0 | 1,597 | 14 |
| 3 | Georgia | 0-0 | 1,513 | — |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 0-0 | 1,510 | 6 |
| 5 | Texas | 0-0 | 1,483 | 0 |
| 6 | Indiana | 0-0 | 1,440 | 8 |
| 7 | Miami (FL) | 0-0 | 1,379 | 1 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 0-0 | 1,131 | — |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 0-0 | 1,102 | — |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 0-0 | 1,047 | — |
| 11 | LSU | 0-0 | 988 | — |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 0-0 | 983 | — |
| 13 | Alabama | 0-0 | 904 | — |
| 14 | BYU | 0-0 | 839 | — |
| 14 | USC | 0-0 | 839 | — |
| 16 | Michigan | 0-0 | 718 | — |
| 17 | Washington | 0-0 | 501 | — |
| 18 | Penn State | 0-0 | 482 | — |
| 19 | SMU | 0-0 | 434 | — |
| 20 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 394 | — |
| 21 | Utah | 0-0 | 304 | — |
| 22 | Iowa | 0-0 | 260 | — |
| 23 | Houston | 0-0 | 252 | — |
| 24 | Louisville | 0-0 | 194 | — |
| 25 | Missouri | 0-0 | 117 | — |
