Brian Kelly calls Texas the SEC ‘team to beat’ in 2026
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Former LSU coach Brian Kelly was formally announced as an analyst by CBS Sports on Monday, and his first take as part of CBS Sports wasn’t exactly a hot one.
Kelly said Monday that the Texas Longhorns are the team to beat in the SEC this season. In doing so, he explained that the outside noise is much less focused on quarterback Arch Manning, which is a good thing. Kelly insisted Monday that Manning will be greatly improved from Year 2 to Year 3 in Steve Sarkisian’s system.
Here’s more from Kelly:
Texas and Georgia are widely considered to be the top teams in the conference heading into the new season. The Bulldogs just barely outranked the Longhorns in the recent SEC Media Days poll, but many contend the Longhorns are the most complete unit.
What’s hard to ignore about the Longhorns is their talent. The Longhorns have elite playmakers all over the field and are led by a quarterback that, as Kelly mentioned, should be greatly improved heading into 2026.
Like every other team in the SEC this year, there’s nothing easy about Texas’ upcoming schedule. The Longhorns face the toughest non-conference opponent among SEC teams with a battle against Ohio State set for September 12. On top of that, Texas will have to play games at Tennessee, at LSU and at Texas A&M to go with matchups against Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Florida.
Ethan Stone is a Saturday Down South News Editor and an advocate for the return of the Seattle Supersonics.
