The 2025 college football season is right around the corner and there are some teams from Texas with big-time gridiron aspirations.
The University of Texas at Austin is ranked as the nation’s top team, according to the season’s first Associated Press Top 25 poll. But a number of other schools – including Texas Tech, SMU, and Texas A&M – also have major goals for the season.
Sam Khan Jr., who covers college football in Texas for The Athletic, broke down what to look for this season with the Texas Standard. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Let’s begin at the very top – that’s where the University of Texas finds itself at the moment. Number one team in the nation, according to the voters of the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Why does it seem like so many folks are convinced, at least at this stage, that Texas is the team to beat?
Sam Khan Jr.: I think it’s a few things. For one, there’s the Arch Manning effect – the quarterback who is the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, grandson of Archie Manning. He was the number one recruit in his class and when he signed in 2023, he’s been sitting, waiting for his turn.
Got to play a little bit last year behind starter Quinn Ewers. And when he did play, he flashed some of the talent and made him a number-one recruit. And there’s a lot of belief that he is going to help take that offense to the next level.
But then when you look at the rest of the roster, they have a lot of returning talent back, particularly on defense. They’ve got an All-American-caliber edge rusher in Colin Simmons, Anthony Hill at lineback – who’s also really talented. Michael Taafe at safety.
They’ve recruited top-five classes almost annually the last three, four years, and they’ve done a really good job in the transfer portal, as well, in filling their gaps.
So I think there’s a belief that the baseline talent is championship-caliber. And you add Arch Manning to that mix and some of the close to playmakers they have, they could be a national title contender again.
Let’s move on to some other teams in the Top 25. Texas Tech, you’ve reported quite a bit on how boosters in Lubbock are trying to turn the Red Raiders into a perennial power. What exactly are they doing, and you think it’s gonna pay dividends this season?
Yeah, they’ve decided to spend whatever it takes/they can to acquire talent and this offseason they went very heavy in the transfer portal to supplement their roster in hopes of winning a Big 12 championship.
This is a program that’s not a blue blood. They’ve not won a Big 12 championship. They have not even played in the Big 12 championship game before. But they’ve got very motivated boosters and they want to get there.
And so they’ve spent $25 million roughly on their roster this off season, which is more than Ohio State, the national champion last year, spent on its roster. Ohio State spent $20 million, and it’s gonna be fascinating to see if it pays off.
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Indeed. Let’s talk about another couple of fascinating appearances in this first poll. SMU ranked 15th, Texas A&M ranked 19th. Now, which do you think is going to be ranked higher at the end of the season?
I’m leaning toward Texas A&M. I really like what Mike Elko’s doing in the second year there.
They’re recruiting at a good level. They bring all their coordinators back on both sides of the ball. They’ve got a returning starting quarterback in Marcel Reed.
They also got a lot of really talented receivers in the transfer portal, and receiver was one of the weaknesses for this team last year. When they play some elite talent like Notre Dame or Texas, they had trouble getting guys open. So they went and attacked that position in the portal and got some really big-time guys. He also got a five-star recruit.
Don’t forget, even though they were, I think, 7-5 or 8-4 last year, they ended up… They were one game away from getting to the SEC title game. They started the season 7-1. They were a team that was really, really strong and they just kind of fell off toward the end of the year. I think this is a team that could sustain and could be back in that mix later this year.
Okay, well let’s talk some wild cards here. Any teams, maybe one or two from Texas you think folks are sleeping on too much?
The one team that didn’t make the poll that I would have probably put in had I had a vote is Baylor.
They bring back a lot of talent. Sawyer Robertson, who took over as quarterback about a month into the season, he helped lead them into a six-game winning streak in the second half of the year – basically saved their season. They were 2-4 in midseason and then he helped them reel off a big-time winning streak.
They’ve done a really good job stepping up in their recruitment. They’ve also decided to devote more money into the transfer portal. Dave Aranda, I think, adjusted his approach from what he had earlier in his career.
So with all the talent that they bring back and the kind of streak that they finished last year on, I think they’re a team that will absolutely be in the mix for the Big 12 championship this year.
Well, a lot of that’s the conventional wisdom, folks, but I have a wild card question for you here, Sam – another one. You got any hot takes on college football this year, anything that folks aren’t talking about that maybe you want to put your own money on?
Yeah, I would say I think Clemson is going to play for a national championship this year.
I think they’re a team that, of course, won a couple in the last decade. Dabo Swinney’s had a great career there, but they kind of had a little bit of a valley in the past few years. And then they picked it back up last year.
They were a surprise team to get into the playoff. They ended up winning the ACC title. They’ve got a Texas-born quarterback, Cade Klubnik from Austin – Westlake High. He’s a veteran. And he’s been in that offense for multiple years.
They also have an elite defensive line. They also a Texas-born offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley, the brother of Lincoln Riley. Riley and Klubnik, I think are a tremendous combo.
And I really do think you could see a Texas-Clemson rematch. They played the first round of the college football playoff last year. I think you can see them play in the national championship game this year.
