ESPN Predicts Texas' Postseason Fate

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Grant Bricker | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 2:56 PM ET

The Texas Longhorns have their eyes on a third-straight College Football Playoff berth in 2025 under head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Sarkisian has been to the semifinal round in 2023 and 2024 and comes into this season with a 38-17 overall record.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura predicted how the CFP field would look on Friday. They both had Texas making the National Championship Game, but with different opponents.

Schlabach had the Longhorns facing the Clemson Tigers, with Texas winning its first national title since 2005. Bonagura did not reveal his winner, but had Sarkisian and company take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The last time Texas won a national title, it competed against the USC Trojans. Quarterback Vince Young scored the go-ahead touchdown run with under 30 seconds left in the game to defeat Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart 41-38.

Fast forward to 2025, and Texas has a new quarterback under center in Arch Manning. The fate of Texas' playoff hopes may ride on if the young gunslinger lives up to the name on the back of his jersey.

He has two starts to his name after coming in for Quinn Ewers, who suffered an oblique injury in the 31-12 Week 2 win over the Michigan Wolverines. Ewers played the next game against the UTSA Roadrunners, but was forced to exit.

Speaking of quarterbacks, the 2025 Manning Award preseason watch list came out on Thursday, but was missing a key name. Manning was not included, even though he shares the last name of the award.

Although he was excluded from the running, he is still making an impact at Texas through recruiting. Manning met with five-star edge rusher Zyron Forstall on a recent visit, and the two New Orleans, Louisiana, natives hit things off.

The Longhorns begin their playoff journey on August 30 versus the Ohio State Buckeyes at Noon ET on Fox.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: