Texas’ ‘Fantastic Four’ in AP football poll could all let fans down this season | Opinion
College football coaches can’t agree on the direction the sun rises, but they are in alignment on their loathing of preseason polls.
Which means the smartest move the Associated Press can make is to test that hatred by offering to abolish its celebrated preseason Top 25 college football poll, which began in 1936, in exchange for annual seven-figure checks. (A little unknown detail about the good people who run the AP is that they are almost as greedy as your standard Power Four Division I football coach.)
Much like the bowl system, the polls aren’t going away. Disregard the accuracy of the poll; it is great marketing and advertising for the second-most-popular sport in America.
This year’s version of the AP Top 25 poll features four teams from Texas, more than any other in the union. Not so tough are you, California? In order, we have No. 1 Texas, No. 16 SMU, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 23 Texas Tech. That’s right, these four, once members of the Southwest Conference, are now spread among three leagues.
The state of Texas finally moved ahead of Florida in college football; Floridians are almost as dumb and blind when it comes to football, but that state only features Miami and Florida in the Top 25.
The poll is a fun toy that ultimately sets up an array of teams for failure, or unprecedented success. For most of those in the preseason Top 25, this is a pass/fail proposition. You either meet, or fail to meet, the expectation.
The four teams from Texas are all justified selections for their respective spots. For years, the University of Texas’ place in the preseason top 10 was the source of humor. After appearances in the past two playoffs, this pick fits.
History says one, or all, of them will fall face-first into a giant pile of West Texas cow flop. Here is why the Texas Fantastic Four are set for massive disappointment.
1. Texas
The Longhorns are No. 1 in this preseason poll for the first time in the history of the program, and are also underdogs for their first game of the season, at No. 3 Ohio State on Aug. 30; the Bucks are favored by 2 1/2.
From the arrival of quarterback Arch Manning as the starter, to the continued follow-the-money flow of top talent to Austin that is now developing under coach Steve Sarkisian, picking UT No. 1 is an easy call.
Along with its game at Ohio State, UT has road dates at Florida and Georgia that you could call “50/50.” Other than those, UT should roll.
There is one overwhelming reason to run from UT to fulfill its projection as the No. 1 team in the nation: So few actually do it. Twice this century teams that began the season No. 1 finished No. 1: USC in 2004, and Alabama in 2017.
No. 16 SMU
SMU bought its way into the club, and promptly went to the head table. Had the Mustangs played a better first half against Clemson in the 2024 ACC title game, they would have won the conference championship in their first year in the league.
Now come expectations that SMU has not seen since the early ‘80s. The last time the Mustangs were ranked in the AP preseason poll was 1985, when they were No. 3. They finished 6-5 in each of the next two seasons, after which the NCAA had the Ponies destroyed.
The return of quarterback Kevin Jennings is why SMU is No. 16. The Ponies lost all of their top skill position players, and nine starters on defense.
On the surface, this schedule looks like a 3-year-old’s birthday party. There are plenty of “losable” games here. The Mustangs will not finish 2-10, but do not expect Year 2 of the ACC to go as well as Year 1 did for SMU.
No. 19 Texas A&M
No team is set up to exceed its preseason Top 25 spot more than A&M. Because of Manning, Jennings and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, A&M quarterback Marcel Reed is all but ignored when he could be the best QB in the state.
A&M is loaded on both lines. The running game is stacked. This has 10-win potential, something A&M last achieved in 2012.
On defense, the Aggies ... who are we kidding? Since 2000, the Aggies have been ranked in the preseason Top 25 poll 13 times. In the final AP Top 25 poll, they have been ranked five times, the last in 2020.
No. 23 Texas Tech
College football’s great financial experiment is in Lubbock, where the Red Raiders have spent money like the “New York Dodgers.”
We will all watch the Red Raiders to see if a college team can “buy” a great season. Thanks not to tradition but funds, the Red Raiders bought the top transfer class in the nation, and, by name, should have one of its best defensive lines.
Will all of this cash net the the Red Raiders’ first outright conference title since 1955?
Using Major League Baseball as the most accurate parallel to major college football’s previous “uncapped system” that allowed Tech to spend its way to a new and improved roster, this method does work. Ask the L.A. Dodgers.
It also doesn’t. Ask the New York Yankees.
The last time the Red Raiders finished ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll was 2009; if they equal that mark in 2025, it should be a success.
But when you spend that kind of money on players, No. 23 will feel like a failure.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 9:07 AM.
