Bree-Anna Burick Oct 19, 2024 6 min read

Is Texas Going to Win the SEC In Their First Season?

UTSA plays UT in Austin, Texas on September 14, 2024. (Photos by: Stephanie Tacy/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

The NCAA football landscape underwent a massive change a couple of years ago when it was announced that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma would be leaving the Big 12 conference, which they had been members of for years, to join the vaunted Southeastern Conference (SEC).

The SEC has long been considered the premiere conference in college football. For years, Nick Saban led the Alabama Crimson Tide to dominance, and now, Kirby Smart has the University of Georgia consistently competing for national championships. The addition of Texas and Oklahoma was expected to make the SEC even more dominant.

However, most people also expected there to be a bit of a learning curve for the Big 12 stalwarts. The Big 12 is known for its fast-paced offenses, high-scoring games, and QB stat lines that look like something from a video game. Conversely, the SEC has been considered a more pro-style conference where offenses often struggle to put up points against some of the best defenses in the country.

With that in mind, the University of Texas currently sits atop the Top 25 rankings and looks to be unbeatable.

Could the Longhorns do the unthinkable and win the SEC in their first year in the conference? All the signs seem to indicate that it’s certainly possible.

The Texas Longhorns 2024 Season

UTSA plays UT in Austin, Texas on September 14, 2024. (Photos by: Stephanie Tacy/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

At the time of this writing, the University of Texas Longhorns are sitting at 6-0 and are ranked number one in the nation for the first time in 16 years. While there have certainly been some upsets involving other teams that have knocked some of the familiar names down.

However, that does nothing to diminish the dominance that the Longhorns have exhibited up to this point.

The Longhorns came into the 2024 football season ranked fourth in the nation. The team’s week-one win over Colorado State saw them put up 52 points in a shutout.

However, there was no reason to think that we were going to see the dominance that we’ve seen since. It’s normal for major programs to play a “cupcake” opponent in the first week of the season since college football doesn’t do preseason games. These lesser opponents usually receive a large payout from the bigger team to serve as a sort of warmup.

The dominance was enough to bump Texas up one spot to number three ahead of their week two matchup against Michigan. The Wolverines, who are the defending National Champions, were ranked tenth ahead of the game, but things looked different up north.

Jim Harbaugh left the team following their national championship victory to return to the NFL. However, there were some who expected Michigan to defend their home field, but what followed was an exhibition of just how good Texas is. The Longhorns went into Ann Arbor and beat the defending champions by a score of 31-12.

The score was certainly lopsided, but the way that Texas went about dismantling the defending champs was even more telling. The 2023 Wolverines were built around a strong defense and a stout rushing attack. Texas not only held the Wolverines to 80 yards on the ground, but they put up 143 of their own. The Longhorns also didn’t turn the ball over any and forced three turnovers from the defending champions.

Quinn Ewers, the Longhorns QB put on a clinic that day in Ann Arbor, as he went 24-36 and passed for three touchdowns and 246 yards.

The following week, Texas played UTSA in another lopsided matchup that was expected. However, after winning by 49 points, Texas returned to a place they hadn’t seen since 2008: the top of the AP Poll. The domination continued the following week in a matchup with Louisiana-Monroe in a game that the Longhorns won 51-3.

On September 28, Texas made its SEC debut in a home game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. By that point, most of the nation knew just how good Texas was.

Even though Quinn Ewers had missed the last couple of games with an injury, Arch Manning (the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning) had led the team. Mississippi State arrived in Austin and tried to shut down the freshman signal caller but to no avail.

Manning passed for more than 320 yards and two touchdowns and led the Longhorns to a 35-13 victory. Texas’ first conference game as a member of the SEC was one for the books.

The Red River Rivalry of 2024

Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron (7) wears the Golden Hat Trophy as he celebrates the team's win against Oklahoma with fans after an NCAA college football game in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

The Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma dates back to 1900. In 2024, the two teams faced off in the biggest game on their schedules for the first time as members of the SEC.

Oklahoma came into the game ranked 18th in the country, and while they certainly hadn’t looked as dominant as Texas, the Sooners were still considered a great team. 92,000-plus packed into the stadium to watch the game. What they saw was pure domination from the top-ranked team in the nation.

After failing to score in the first quarter, the Longhorns put up 34 unanswered points, including 21 points in the second quarter.

Even more impressively, they kept Oklahoma off the scoreboard after the Sooners kicked a field goal in the first quarter. Texas won the 2024 Red River Rivalry game 34-3 and established which SEC newcomer was the most dominant.

What’s Next for Texas?

The Longhorns have a date with the Georgia Bulldogs on October 19, 2024, in what may be Texas’ biggest test to date. They’ll have home home-field advantage when Georgia comes to town.

Will the top-ranked team in the nation continue their run of dominance? You can find out at 7:30 PM EST on Saturday, October 19, 2024.

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