Whatever happens this season, I think it’s fair to say the Texas Longhorns were ‘ready’ for the SEC.
When the original announcement about Texas and OU joining the conference, the Longhorns were down. Texas fans heard the jeers, from Big 12 fans, from college football experts and even from SEC fans.
The funny thing is the Big 12 actually helped Texas get ready. The original announcement that Texas and the Oklahoma Sooners were leaving the Big 12 for greener SEC pastures was in July of 2021. The Horns had just hired Steve Sarkisian six months prior. The Big 12 wanted the two departing schools to either pay a massive fee or stay til the bitter end, 2025.
What that did was help Sark, a veteran of SEC football, to recruit the type of team that could compete in the new league. If Texas had the ability to switch right away, they probably wouldn’t have been ready.
Finally, after a combined $100 million dollar payout, OU and Texas were allowed to leave a year early. Which coincided with the new and improved Longhorns going to the college football playoff semifinals.
https://twitter.com/TreyLuerssen/status/1834226583135002640
Now, two weeks into the inaugural season, it is Texas leading the charge in the new league. The SEC network is talking about them. ESPN is talking about them. Joel Klatt, Josh Pate and Greg McElroy are all leading with Texas. YouTube channels that have never paid any attention to Texas are breaking down Longhorns film for almost an hour!
Obviously, the Georgia Bulldogs are still great. They are No. 1 for a reason. Years of great program building have brought Georgia a lot of success.
And Georgia has a big non-conference win, beating the Clemson Tigers 34-3. But Texas is the shiny new toy for college football pundits to talk about. And make no mistake, the Longhorns victory over Michigan was an eye opener. Anyone, expert or fan, that wasn’t sure if Texas was a true title contender are sure now.
Again, whatever happens this season, the Longhorns were ‘ready.’