Greg McElroy explains why he is shocked by Texas' ranking in AP poll

The hype continues to build at Texas ahead of the Longhorns’ final year in the Big 12. Steve Sarkisian’s group came in as the conference favorite with all eyes on a high-powered offense filled with playmakers.

But the Longhorns came in at No. 11 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll released earlier this week. To ESPN analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, that came as a surprise.

McElroy explained why he thought Texas should be higher during a SportsCenter segment shortly after the poll came out. He pointed out possible voter fatigue when it comes to placing the Longhorns higher, but made the case for them to be a top-10 team given the amount of talent they have.

“Texas on paper — I think AP voters have been burned by the Longhorns in the past, so there’s a little apprehension about putting them up there in the top six, in the top seven,” McElroy told Matt Barrie. “But Matt, you’ve studied it, I’ve studied it, we’ve been talking about it all offseason. On paper, Texas’ roster is a top-five roster. Quarterback at Quinn Ewers, excellent. Maybe one of the best receiver cores in America by anyone not named Ohio State. The defensive front seven is really beginning to emerge, based on some of the notes and the whispers out of what they’ve done in the scrimmages the last couple days.

“So Texas being outside the top 10, a little surprising to me, as well. That should be a team that’s at worst, ranked sixth or seventh in America.”

This isn’t the first time McElroy has said he thinks Texas should be a top-10 team. He did so last month, using the Longhorns’ depth at wide receiver to make his point. That could help them with the departure of Bijan Robinson, the do-it-all running back who’s now off to the NFL.

Especially with Ewers running the show at quarterback, McElroy thinks Texas has a chance to make some noise this season.

“I look at Texas and I look at their weapons,” McElroy said after he unveiled his preseason rankings. “And I know Bijan Robinson’s gone, and replacing him is going to be remarkably difficult. Now, do I think Jonathon Brooks is up to the task? Do I think Keilan Robinson is up to the task? Do I think Jaydon Blue is up the task? What about CJ Baxter, the top recruit in the country are running back? I don’t know. … If it’s a running back by committee approach, so be it.”

“I think that receiver nowadays, as crazy as this has gotten because receiver used to be a dime-a-dozen position. It did. Like, back in the day, it was like ‘Well, everybody has a receiver.’ Well now, if you have game changing wide receivers, it’s now a premier position. … If you have multiple dynamic matchup-winning wide receivers, you can cause so much stress so much stress for the opposing defense and that’s exactly what they have.”