CFB Analyst Awards Lofty Prediction for Texas Longhorns

College football is kicking off for most of the nation on Saturday, and with the start of the 2025 season brings about some early predictions for the college football playoffs.

Recently, former quarterback and CFB analyst Greg McElroy filled out his predicted bracket for the postseason, picking the Texas Longhorns as the 2025 national champions.

McElroy's Bracket Predictions

In McElroy's prediction of the college football playoffs, Texas takes the four seed as one of three SEC teams included in the 12-team format. With the four seed, McElroy thinks that Texas takes the SEC title on the way to a national championship trophy.

Other teams included in the bracket saw Penn State as the top seed, Clemson as the two seed, Ohio State as the three seed and Notre Dame as the five seed. The field is rounded out by USC, Liberty, Miami, Oregon, Utah, Alabama and Georgia.

Texas has now had consistent experience in the College Football Playoffs, reaching the CFP semifinal game in each of the last two seasons. The Longhorns experienced disappointment in both instances, losing to the Washington Huskies 37-31 in 2023 and the Ohio State Buckeyes 28-14 in 2024.

They now enter the 2025 season, once again with national championship expectations on the team's shoulders. At the helm of this season's team is quarterback Arch Manning, who is one of the most hyped players in the nation entering his career debut as the Longhorns' full-time starter.

Manning isn't the only significant change to the Texas offense after losing numerous role players to the 2025 NFL draft. After the departure of Texas's two top receivers, Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond, sophomore Ryan Wingo will be stepping into their places as the team's top target.

Texas also lost its tight end Gunnar Helm to the NFL, replacing the standout receiver with Jack Endries, a transfer from Cal. Endries finished the 2024 season with the third-most receiving yards amongst tight ends in the ACC.

The Longhorns will see a revamped offensive line as well, returning only one starter from last season. The team will see some consistency in the backfield with the return of running backs Tre Wisner and CJ Baxter. Wisner ran for more than 1,000 yards last season and Baxter makes his way back on the gridiron after suffering a season ending injury in last years training camp.

Entering the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, perhaps Texas can prove McElroy right in his playoff prediction. Texas begins the season on Saturday when the team travels to Columbus to take on the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes.