College Football Preseason Top 25: #4 Texas

Texas just lost the most successful quarterback in College Football history, yet Al Dannity has the Longhorns at #4. What gives?

The schedule
The Longhorns open the season with a road game at Rice as they start 2010 playing five games within their home state. The last of these is anything but a home game however as Texas meets its old rival Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl on October 2.

The first out of state game for the Longhorns promises to be explosive. Texas travels to Nebraska in a re-match of last season’s Big 12 title game. This will be the last game between Texas and the Cornhuskers for the foreseeable future, as Nebraska is leaving the conference, and promises to be epic. The regular season finale will, as always, be intense when Texas takes on the Aggies of Texas A&M.

The players
College Football betting fans got a sneak preview of Garrett Gilbert in the BCS title game back in January. Having never taken a meaningful snap in his career before, Gilbert was sent in under center at short notice when Colt McCoy was forced out of the game early. While Gilbert’s stats that night were far from stellar, the young signal-caller showed plenty of promise. The Longhorns offense looks to be in safe hands with Gilbert who will have 6 returning starters to lean on for assistance.

The defense is similarly stacked, with 7 returning starters. Bettors should note that Sergio Kindle, who starred for the Longhorns in 2009, has moved on to the NFL. Texas punter Justin Tucker is a returning starter from last season, this season Tucker will also be the Longhorns’ kicker.

The forecast
Mack Brown has once again reloaded and Texas should keep on racking up the wins in 2010. The Longhorns should go 12-0 in the regular season but I still can’t put them at the top of these rankings.

We have now entered the complicated territory of separating teams who I like to record perfect records. The remaining three teams on this list, who will be revealed next week, are all being tipped to run the table as well. Essentially we need to look at the quality of personnel coupled with the likelihood of these teams losing a game to separate the final four.

The Longhorns miss the cut in both these categories, with two difficult games back-to-back in October and the absence of McCoy, Kindle, and Jordan Shipley, who have all bolted for the NFL. All that being said, Texas remains stacked and should be able to run the table and secure the Big 12 South title. The post-season promises a crack at a second straight Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl.