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Where Texas Sits in First AP Poll of 2025 Season

Originally posted on Touchdown Texas | By Noah Scoggins | Last updated Aug 11, 2025 4:56 PM ET

AUSTIN — On Monday at noon, the Longhorns were announced to be the No. 1 team in college football heading into the 2025 season, according to the Associated Press voters. Texas secured 25 first-place votes, two more than No. 2 Penn State.

The Longhorns’ Week 2 matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes will now be a No. 1 vs. No. 3 matchup, instead of the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup that many predicted based on the coaches’ poll that had the Buckeyes second on the list.

This is the first time that Texas has been ranked No. 1 in both preseason polls, and it is the highest Texas has been in the rankings entering the season since 2009, when the Longhorns lost to Alabama in the national championship game.

The rankings are just piling on to the already high expectations leading into the season; Texas has had the highest odds to win the championship through the offseason, and QB Arch Manning has all the hype around him. Texas also has arguably the best defense of Steve Sarkisian’s five-year tenure so far, and is coming off back-to-back playoff semifinal appearances.

Sarkisian and the Longhorns will need to ensure that the vision never gets lost, through all the hype, they must prevail. Week 1 will be a revenge game, and not just for what happened in the heartbreaking loss to the Buckeyes last year to end Texas’s chance of a national championship. 19 years ago, No. 1 Ohio State walked into Austin and beat a No. 2-ranked Texas.

Although the Horns are 2-2 against Ohio State, all-time, including a 25-22 win in Columbus in 2005 and a 24-21 win against the Buckeyes in 2009 in the Fiesta Bowl, this is still a game of revenge. It will be an attempt at a get-back for the playoff loss last year and for the 2006 loss at home, which was also the first and only top-two matchup within the first two weeks of the season ever.

All the eyes are seemingly on Austin this year, and it’s only a matter of weeks before the Longhorns have to prove their worth. No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Ohio State will kick off in Columbus on Aug. 30 at 11 AM CT on FOX.

Here’s the full top 25: