Ad Disclosure
ESPN is already gearing up for the 2025 college football season this fall. The Worldwide Leader has put together its way-too-early top 25 rankings and now is taking a look at those top teams and their schedules this fall.
In ESPN’s early top-25 rankings, Texas checks in at No. 2. The Longhorns have one of the most difficult schedules in the SEC, as well as 1 of the marquee non-conference matchups against Ohio State.
Which game on that schedule will define Texas’s season? ESPN analyst Dave Wilson picked the Nov. 29 home game against Texas A&M. Here’s what he had to say about that elite matchup.
The Longhorns meet Ohio State in their season opener in one of the most intriguing nonconference games of 2025, and a rematch of the CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl. This one will look very different, with Ohio State losing a lot of proven star power and Texas beginning the Arch Manning era. But in the 12-team playoff era, the season opener doesn’t define your season any longer. For the Longhorns, that distinction could fall to their Nov. 29 home game against Texas A&M, the first time the Aggies head to Austin since 2010. The rivalry game will mark the end of a run in which Texas hosts Vanderbilt, which has Diego Pavia returning after the Longhorns escaped with a 27-24 win last season, followed by games against Georgia, which beat Texas twice last year; Arkansas; and then the Aggies in the final week of the regular season. With a schedule that also features unpredictable matchups against what should be improved Florida and Oklahoma teams and that Buckeyes game, the showdown with the Aggies could be a key final test.
Texas lost to Georgia in the SEC title in 2024 and earned a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Steve Sarkisian’s squad made it to the CFP semifinal before losing to eventual national champion, Ohio State.
The Longhorns are as talented as any team in college football, and with Manning, the team is looking to go even further this year.
