ESPN analyst chooses Texas Longhorns in Fight for SEC Championship

“In the championship, I’m taking the Texas Longhorns over the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the SEC,” McElroy said.

McElroy expands on the Longhorns’ defensive star power, mixed with quarterback Arch Manning’s potential, their offensive weapons and overall depth — and pieces together that these factors put Texas in an ideal spot leading up to the season.

Agreeing that the Longhorns are the overall favorite, he cites their offensive line and challenging schedule as questionable areas, but doesn’t anticipate they will outweigh their upsides and strengths.

“I just think with some of the youth that Texas has, particularly at quarterback, at wide receiver (and) some of the gu ys that will be rolling in on defense, they’re a little bit deeper and have a slightly higher ceiling than Alabama at this point,” McElroy said.

While McElroy believes Alabama will be the team to face the Longhorns in the SEC Championship game, he wrestled with the possibility of Georgia or LSU. However, in the end, went with Alabama.

Further diving into his reasoning for selecting Alabama to be the Longhorns’ challenger, he mentioned Alabama’s new quarterback as the leading cause.

“I look at a team like Alabama, a team that had to deal with tremendous inconsistency last year… (is) deeper and more talented than people probably realize,” McElroy said. “And I think Ty Simpson, their new starting quarterback, is a great fit for what (Alabama head coach) Kalen DeBoer wants them to be.”

De spite this, McElroy still predicts that Texas will end their season at 10-2 and find itself in the SEC title game. However, notes that the offensive line needs to be solid, as it could be a deciding factor in their season.

“(The Longhorns) have to make sure that their offensive line is as good as they’re capable of being,” McElroy said. “If they’re not, Alabama could definitely pull this upset in the SEC title. But I will take Texas right now over ‘Bama for the SEC Championship.”

Finishing his segment, McElroy believes the Longhorns will win the league, but there's still a lot of time and football to come. So, despite the prediction, we still have months until his potential truth comes to fruition for the Longhorns.