College football has been rapidly changing over the past decade, and it feels like all of that hard work will finally come to fruition in 2024. With conference realignment settled for the time being and the introduction of the 12-team playoffs, every Saturday is going to be appointment television in the fall.
For the Texas Longhorns, the transition to the SEC probably could not have come at a better time as they are coming off of a 12-win season that included a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff berth. It certainly does not hurt that QB Quinn Ewers returns to the Forty Acres for his third season as a starter. Ewers is already widely projected as a first-round pick but with a big 2024 campaign, he could easily play himself into being a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
Texas will play one of the most difficult schedules in the country with games against the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines, the pre-season No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, and their first match-up with the Texas A&M Aggies since 2011. However, anything short of a Playoff appearance would be a disappointing season.
With the season less than two months away, Sporting News predicts the 12-team Playoff field as well as all of the other bowl games.
The Longhorns are projected to be the No. 5 seed and would host No. 12 Memphis in Austin in the first round. Texas is expected to beat Memphis and then beat the Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl before losing to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl semi-final.
Sporting News also projects the Oklahoma Sooners to miss the playoffs and take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Gator Bowl as well as Texas A&M taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Reliaquest Bowl.