Texas might still have a target on its back after leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. One SEC football analyst believes the Longhorns begin the season atop the conference with Georgia.
SEC Network’s Peter Burns heaped plenty of praise on head coach Steve Sarkisian’s team on Mike Griffith’s “On The Beat” podcast. According to Burns, Texas looks like Georgia did prior to its 2021 national title.
“To me, the top two teams to beat right now are going to be Georgia and they’re going to be Texas. I was just down in Austin, and I handled their spring football game. And it looks every bit like the way Georgia looked in 2021, in 2022, in 2023. I mean, they get off the bus, they’re monstrous people, they’re deep in every position and now they have a quarterback in Quinn Ewers coming back.”
Many of the “monstrous people” on the Texas roster are offensive linemen. Texas has five with extended starting experience in center Jake Majors, left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and guards Hayden Conner, Devon Campbell Jr. and Cole Hutson. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to linemen who could make an impact for Texas if called upon in 2024.
Burns goes on to explain who places in the top two tiers of the conference.
To me, I think the pecking order is Georgia, Texas and then you have that kinda secondary tier that’s going to be full of Alabama, Ole Miss and perhaps even Missouri at that point.
There is disagreement as to who belongs in the second tier. Some would place LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M or Oklahoma in the tier. Even so, it’s clear that many view Texas as a top challenger in the conference to make an SEC title or College Football Playoff berth.