Thanks to elite QBs and a talented roster, Texas ranks No. 3 in ESPN's Future Power Rankings

By: Lawton Paddock — With ESPN just recently releasing its updated “Future Power Rankings” (FPR), a metric used to predict a given program’s success for the next three seasons, Longhorn fans should be pleased to see that Texas has shot up to No. 3 in the most recent ranking after the conclusion of Steve Sarkisian’s third season as head coach.

[Sign up for Inside Texas and get ONE MONTH for $1!]

In 2023, Texas’ 12-2 finish and College Football Playoff appearance was its best performance in roughly fifteen years, not to mention an immense improvement from Sark’s inaugural 2021 season that finished 5-7 and included a home loss to Kansas.

The top five in FPR goes as follows:

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Michigan

Just two years ago, the Longhorns were still in the dark ages, and being considered among the likes of SEC and Big 10 powerhouses would’ve been laughable at the time. Thankfully, as we head into the 2024 season, the team has found itself in an exceptionally favorable state, with a multitude of factors influencing their potential for sustained greatness.

For one, perhaps the premier determining factor in Texas’s FPR ranking was the ensured quality of quarterback play for the foreseeable future.

There is no telling how high Quinn Ewers’ ceiling will be this season, and UT can reasonably expect to have another elite signal caller for the next two in Arch Manning. Unrelated to the constituents of the recent FPR measurement, the Longhorns’ state of quarterback prominence is likely to continue past Manning with uber-talented players/commits Trey Owens, K.J. Lacey, and Dia Bell in line to take the helm in the years to come. Simply put, when a given team has the best quarterback on the field, they are likely to win the game based on that metric alone. In the case of the Texas Longhorns, their quarterback stature could correlate to national championships sooner rather than later.

Secondly, the supporting cast and leadership of returning star players to Texas in 2024 is already robust and has the potential to evolve into indomitability. After showing flashes this past season, cornerstone young talents Anthony Hill, Malik Muhammad, and Derek Williams could become legitimate superstars with another offseason of development. Likewise, prospective leaders on the team such as Johntay Cook and Alfred Collins have the opportunity to live up to the hype of their high school evaluations which has yet to manifest. Jaydon Blue and CJ Baxter stand to be perhaps the best running back tandem in the country as well. Admittedly, this piece of the puzzle is composed of a lot of hypotheticals after the departure of team leaders last year, but if all goes as expected, skill positions and defense will be an advantage for Texas in the landscape of playoff contention.

Finally, the significance of conference realignment in the modernity of college football cannot be understated. In just the past handful of years, the structure of the game as fans know it has been severely revamped. What we once considered the “Power Five ” conferences has really devolved into a “Power Two,” consisting of the SEC and Big 10, with the ACC and Big 12 integrated into the holistic CFB discussion as a mere formality.

That said, it was no surprise that 15 of the top 20 teams in the latest FPR evaluation are slated to be in the Power Two starting in 2024. Fortunately, Texas got the better end of musical chairs in the realignment phenomenon, as the SEC is considered by most to be the true top-tier conference in today’s CFB conditions. Obviously, as many non Power Two fans gripe, Texas will be on the receiving end of ranking inflation in the AP Polls and recruiting/resource advantages by being affiliated with the SEC, contributing to the substantiation for the success of the Longhorns going forward.

[Subscribe to the Inside Texas YouTube channel!]

In short, when considering recent success, prevailing talent, and conference realignment, the Texas Longhorns stand to prosper in the upcoming years of college football. As Sarkisian continues to recruit and develop his talent, building on his already admirable foundation especially in the quarterback room, Texas has the potential to turn into a powerhouse during the back end of the 2020’s and restore eminence in Austin.