Tag: Way-Too-Early top 25

Another way-too-early poll ranks the Texas Longhorns at No. 4

“Consensus is building for the Texas Longhorns as a Top 5 team.”

Consensus is building for the Texas Longhorns as a Top 5 team. Another outlet has the Longhorns at No. 4 in their way-too-early poll.

ESPN ranks Texas behind Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon with Notre Dame slotting just behind at No. 5. The Longhorns’ ranking justification goes as follows.

“Now (after reaching the playoff) coach Steve Sarkisian will have to show his program can stay in the sport’s upper echelon against increased competition in the SEC. We’ll probably have to wait another season for the Arch Manning era with quarterback Quinn Ewers coming back. He’ll need to find new targets this spring with receivers Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders jumping to the NFL. Transfers Isaiah Bond (Alabama) and Matthew Golden (Houston) are plenty capable. The Longhorns play at Michigan on Sept. 7 and host Georgia on Oct. 19. They won’t play Alabama, Auburn, LSU or Ole Miss during the regular season.”

Texas is a safe pick to contend for the playoff. It’s safe because the team proved it could compete against and defeat some of the best teams in a convincing Alabama win last year. In addition, there simply aren’t many teams about to get a third season with the same quarterback, head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. That’s to say nothing of what Texas returns at offensive line.

The Longhorns’ stability will have many placing the team in their Top 5 ranked teams for next season. Now they will look to have a strong spring as they build toward a pivotal 2024 season.

Way-too-early Top 25 projections for the 2024 college football season

Quinn Ewers’ likely return ranks Texas highly in our 2024 way-too-early Top 25.

The 2023 college football season is a month from completion, but that’s not preventing us from looking ahead to what could happen in 2024. Continue reading “Way-too-early Top 25 projections for the 2024 college football season”

Texas basketball ranked No. 7 in way-too-early 2024 top 25

Rodney Terry has raised the expectations for Texas basketball.

Texas basketball had one of the best seasons in program history in 2023. The Longhorns finished the year at 29-9, making an NCAA Tournament run all the way to the Elite Eight.

Rodney Terry earned the full-time job as head coach after knocking it out of the park in the interim role.

The Longhorns hope to build on the momentum built this past season moving forward.

Texas ranks No. 7 in 247Sports’ way-too-early top 25 rankings for the 2023-2024 season.

If Disu hadn’t gotten hurt, Texas likely would have reached the Final Four and would have been a tough out, even with the way UConn played. Now he has a decision to make. If he comes back and carries over his momentum from the postseason, Texas will be awfully tough to beat. Tyrese Hunter is testing the NBA Draft waters but seems likely to return, and Texas seems likely to find a transfer point guard to help relieve some of the ball-handling burden. Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell are sophomore jump candidates, Brock Cunningham comes up with big plays in key moments and five-star forward Ron Holland looks like a hand-in-glove fit.

While we are an entire offseason packed with NBA decisions and transfer portal moves away from the first game of the 2023 campaign, Texas appears to be in good shape to compete for a title again.

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Texas basketball ranks No. 12 in Jon Rothstein’s rankings

An influx of talent and a strong returning core has experts excited about Texas basketball.

Texas basketball is receiving plenty of hype in the offseason. Jon Rothstein is the latest commentator to heap praise on the Longhorns.

Rothstein ranked Texas No. 12 in his top 45 teams for the upcoming basketball season. Defensive improvement through the transfer portal was cited as the first reason for why Chris Beard’s team could succeed in 2022.

Texas added two big-time players through the transfer portal in Iowa State guard Tyrese Hunter and New Mexico State guard Sir’Jabari Rice. Hunter won Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors last season. Both players led their teams to NCAA Tournament upset victories.

Dillon Mitchell and Arterio Morris were expected to make an impact right away as freshman when Beard signed the two big-time recruits. They’ll be helped by a group of players that are familiar with the Longhorns’ system and standard.

Marcus Carr, Timmy Allen, Christian Bishop, Brock Cunningham and Dylan Disu are all significant returnees to provide Texas a strong core. They will need to step up to fill voids left by Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey and Tre Mitchell.

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Texas Basketball: Horns rank No. 17 in 247Sports’ way-too-early top 25

The Big 12 conference is set up for another strong season on the basketball court.

The college basketball season may feel like it is far away but it is never too early to look ahead.

With the May 1 NBA draft deadline now behind us, 247Sports’ Kevin Flaherty released his early projection of his top 25 rankings for the 2022-23 season.

Flaherty has Texas in the No. 17 slot after an up and down season that ended with a loss to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Chris Beard’s 2022-23 roster looks like it will have a great mix of experience and young talent. Leading scorers Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr return for the Longhorns and will be joined by a freshman class featuring five-stars Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell.

Here is a look at the full top 25:

  1. Arkansas
  2. Kentucky
  3. Houston
  4. North Carolina
  5. Baylor
  6. Gonzaga
  7. Duke
  8. Kansas
  9. UCLA
  10. TCU
  11. Tennessee
  12. Arizona
  13. Michigan
  14. Creighton
  15. Iowa
  16. Auburn
  17. Texas
  18. Villanova
  19. Alabama
  20. Illinois
  21. Texas Tech
  22. Indiana
  23. Michigan State
  24. Saint Louis
  25. San Diego State

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Where Texas basketball lands in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25

Chris Beard appears to have Texas heading in the right direction.

The 2021-22 college basketball season came to an end on Monday night as Kansas cut down the nets after a thriller against North Carolina. Although we are over six months away from a new season of college basketball, it’s always a good time to look ahead to next year.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello created his way-too-early top 25 rankings for the 2022-23 season. Texas comes in at No. 22 after an up and down season that finished with a loss to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Predicting what Texas’ roster will look like at this point is no easy task, the Longhorns roster faces lots of question marks entering the offseason.

Timmy Allen, Marcus Carr, Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey and Jase Febres are all seniors. Christian Bishop is the only projected returnee who averaged more than 3.7 points per game. But there’s some optimism in Austin. Dylan Disu should be healthier next season up front; he was a double-double threat every night at Vanderbilt, and Chris Beard will be hoping he’ll return to form. The Longhorns are also welcoming two five-star recruits on the perimeter, with playmaking guard Arterio Morris and explosive Dillon Mitchell entering the fold. Mitchell is a legitimate one-and-done prospect who makes his biggest impact defensively and in transition.

The NBA draft, transfer portal and recruiting ranks can drastically change the outlook of the roster. Chris Beard has proven he can build a roster in one offseason and will be tasked to do so again.

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Texas featured in Sporting News’ way-too-early Top 25 college football rankings

Texas’ stock for 2022 is soaring.

The first year under Steve Sarkisian went about as poorly as it possibly could.

After showing signs of being a different team in comparison to previous regime, the Longhorns went on to lose six consecutive games that saw multiple double-digit leads blown.

The team had major flaws at seemingly every position, and it was obvious that Sarkisian and his staff had not inherited the roster that they thought they were. Flash forward to the end of the season, the staff put in an insane amount effort into rounding up talented players in their 2022 class.

The class will likely finish as the No. 5 class in the country per 247Sports recruiting rankings, and with the addition of multiple talented transfers, the team added crucial depth across the board.

So much so, that outlets like CBS Sports and Sporting News are putting a ton of faith in the team for 2022.

Sporting News released their way-too-early Top 25, and the Longhorns were featured. Here is what they said about Texas landing at No. 20:

SN had Texas ranked No. 6 in this poll last season and No. 11 in 2020. We admittedly fall for Texas hype every time, and it’s a nine-spot drop but we’re still “hooked.” Why would be on board given how the Longhorns fizzled to a 5-7 record in 2021? Five-star transfer Quinn Ewers, who has been compared to Trevor Lawrence, is a good start. Bijan Robinson is one of the best running backs in the FBS. The offense should score a ton of points, and second-year coach Steve Sarkisian can learn from the first-year mistakes. The Week 2 matchup against Alabama will be the most-watched game in September.

Whether this hype holds up is to be seen, but considering all the additions in the offseason from the players to Gary Patterson on the defensive side of the ball, the Longhorns seem to have a fantastic chance at improving.

ESPN releases its 2021 Way-Too-Early top 25 CFB rankings

ESPN releases its 2021 Way-Too-Early top 25 CFB rankings following the CFP National Championship. Where does Georgia rank?

It hasn’t even been 24 hours since Alabama defeated Ohio State in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night, yet ESPN has already released its Way-Too-Early top 25 rankings for the 2021 college football season.

Everyone, including ESPN, knows it is impossible to even try and rank next year’s teams accurately at this point, but they do it anyways as a little teaser into what next season could look like.

ESPN’s top-4 for making next years playoff include No. 1 Clemson, No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 Georgia.