The Texas Longhorns are the number one team in the preseason AP Poll, Coaches Poll, and betting odds for the title in 2025. However, SP+, an ESPN efficiency metric, isn't sold on them being the top team in football.
Efficiency metric isn't quite sold on preseason #1 Texas Longhorns originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Texas Longhorns are the number one team in the preseason AP Poll. They're the number one team in the Coaches Poll. They're the betting favorite to win the title this year. Almost everything points to them being the best team in the sport.
One efficiency metric does not agree, though. ESPN analyst Bill Connelly broke down all the teams by SP+, which is "a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football."
Based on that, Texas might be getting slightly overvalued. SP+ ranks them the fifth best team in the country. Far from bad, but not what the title favorite wants to see.
This is largely because the metric isn't expecting the Arch Manning leap everyone else seems to be. "It's pretty clear that poll voters are assuming greatness from Arch Manning, and that might be exactly what he delivers," Connelly said. "Anything less than elite QB play might expose the fact that the Longhorns had a lot of holes to fill on the lines and in the receiving corps."
Because there is no adjustment for someone like Manning being expected to be incredible, the rankings see Texas take a slight dip. However, fifth is still easily a legitimate title contender, it's just important to note they may not actually be the best team in the sport. That would apparently be Ohio State. Again.
Category: General Sports
