For the primary time, Texas will open a school soccer season ranked No. 1 in The Related Press Prime 25.
The Longhorns hardly have a mandate within the ballot launched Monday: They edged out Penn State by simply 5 factors within the closest preseason vote since 1998.
Texas obtained 25 first-place votes and 1,552 factors to present the Southeastern Convention the preseason No. 1 workforce for a document fifth straight 12 months. The Nittany Lions received 23 first-place votes and 1,547 factors for his or her highest preseason rating since they had been No. 1 to open the 1997 season.
The Longhorns face a significant take a look at instantly. Their Aug. 30 opener at defending champion and third-ranked Ohio State is a rematch of final season’s Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinal, a 28-14 Buckeyes win within the Cotton Bowl.
The Buckeyes obtained 11 first-place votes from the panel of 65 media members who cowl school soccer. No. 4 Clemson received 4 first-place votes and No. 5 Georgia received one.
Notre Dame, Oregon (which received the ultimate first-place vote), Alabama, LSU and Miami spherical out the highest 10.
The SEC leads all conferences with 10 groups within the preseason Prime 25, most ever by a convention and yet another than a 12 months in the past. The SEC has 4 groups within the high 10 for the second straight 12 months.
The Large Ten, which has received the previous two nationwide championships, has two of the highest three groups within the ballot for the third straight 12 months and 6 within the Prime 25 for the third 12 months in a row.
4 Large 12 groups are ranked, with defending convention champion Arizona State the very best at No. 11. The Atlantic Coast Convention has three, led by Clemson.
The Longhorns have been on an upward trajectory since they had been 5-7 in 2021, Steve Sarkisian’s first season. They’ve received 25 of their previous 30 video games and reached two straight CFP semifinals. Final 12 months, they had been ranked No. 1 4 of 5 weeks from mid-September to mid-October, they usually reached the SEC championship recreation of their first season within the convention.
“However this can be a new 12 months, new faces, new workforce, and clearly expectations are excessive for our program,” Sarkisian mentioned at SEC media days. “I am not naive to that. I do not put my head within the sand, and expectations are very excessive. However I additionally say we are the College of Texas, and the usual is the usual right here, and that is competing for championships 12 months in and 12 months out.”
Twelve Texas gamers had been taken within the NFL draft, together with three first-round picks, however elite recruiting and additions from the switch portal ought to alleviate considerations about losses on the offensive line and at receiver. The protection brings again loads of expertise.
Nonetheless, Texas obtained simply 38.5% of the first-place votes (25 of 65), the smallest share for a No. 1 workforce within the preseason ballot since Georgia received 33.9% (22 of 65) in 2008.
The Longhorns have ended a season No. 1 within the AP ballot thrice (1963, 1969, 2005) however till now had by no means began a season greater than No. 2 (1962, 1965, 1970, 2005, 2009).
The second-ranked Nittany Lions are usually not solely six factors from being No. 1, they’re 75 factors forward of the Buckeyes in what is perhaps thought of a slight to the nationwide champs.
Penn State may have Drew Allar again below middle for what many contemplate a light-weight schedule forward of a late September go to from Oregon earlier than a Nov. 1 showdown at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes, within the preseason high 5 for the ninth straight 12 months and twelfth of the previous 13, may have a brand new look with solely 5 starters again on offense and three on protection.
“This workforce has its personal id,” coach Ryan Day mentioned. “It desires to have its personal id, but it surely additionally desires to be the primary Ohio State workforce to win back-to-back nationwide championships.”
The opener towards Texas will give the Buckeyes an excellent measure of themselves. Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz would be the third new beginning quarterback in three years. Whoever will get the job will throw to one of many nation’s high gamers in Jeremiah Smith.
Day may also have one other likelihood to determine archrival and preseason No. 14 Michigan, which has overwhelmed the Buckeyes 4 straight years.
• Texas will attempt to develop into the twelfth workforce to begin and end No. 1 for the reason that AP preseason ballot debuted in 1950. The final workforce to do it was Alabama in 2017.
• Notre Dame is within the preseason high 10 for the third time in 4 years. The Combating Irish may have a brand new quarterback, CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey. The 2 performed a mixed eight snaps final season as Notre Dame went all the best way to the CFP title recreation received by Ohio State.
• With Boise State at No. 25, all 12 groups within the 2024 Faculty Soccer Playoff are ranked within the preseason. The Mountain West’s Broncos are the primary workforce from a Group of 5 convention to crack the preseason Prime 25 since Tulane was No. 24 in 2023.
• No. 16 SMU, which returns quarterback Kevin Jennings from its CFP workforce, is within the preseason Prime 25 for the primary time in 40 years. The 1985 workforce was No. 3 and completed 6-5 and unranked.