Paul Finebaum Gives Blunt Assessment Of Texas Amid SEC Move
The Texas Longhorns, who won the Big 12 championship and made the College Football Playoff last season, have high expectations heading into the 2024 season.
According to ESPN's Football Power Index, the Longhorns are ranked as the No. 3 team in the country, trailing only the Georgia Bulldogs and Oregon Ducks. Texas also has the third-best odds of making the College Football Playoff, competing in the national championship and winning the national championship.
It won't be easy for Texas, as the Longhorns face the new challenge of transitioning from the Big 12 to the SEC, which some consider the top football conference.
Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian watches from behind the play during the first quarter of the spring Orange and White game © Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK
ESPN's Paul Finebaum was in Austin, TX, to celebrate the occasion. When asked what makes Texas a better team now than a few years ago when the move was announced, the college football analyst said, Texas is the second-best team in the conference now.
"I think what makes them ready is pretty simple: they have the second-best team in the league to start," Finebaum said. "Three years ago, nobody expected that."
Finebaum attributed Texas's resurgence to hiring Steve Sarkisian as head coach before the 2021 season. Sarkisian has shown improvement every year he's been in Austin. In year one, Texas went 5-7. The Longhorns followed that up by going 8-5 before going 12-2 and winning the conference in year three.
If things continue on this trajectory, it could be a statement season for the Longhorns in its new conference.