Kirk Herbstreit is going chalk in the 2025 campaign. During the annual preseason Herbie Awards show on Friday, Herbstreit predicted Texas will win the SEC Championship in the upcoming season.
“This is a tough one,” Herbstreit said. “A lot of talk about LSU, you never want to sleep on Georgia and Alabama and their potential with the way they recruit. I’m buying into Texas.
“Arch Manning and all that hype and more importantly, guys like Michael Taaffe, [Colin] Simmons, [Anthony] Hill, the great skill coming back in the backfield, a lot of trust in [Steve] Sarkisian and what he can do. They’ve come so close the last two years. I think Texas has what it takes to be able to climb the mountain and win that difficult conference.”
There’s no reason Texas can’t take home its first SEC title in the 2025 season. The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 and have the talent to hold that position all season.
To start, the Longhorns are finally starting Arch Manning behind center. Manning spent two seasons as Texas’ backup behind Quinn Ewers. Alas, expectations are through the roof for Eli and Peyton Manning’s nephew this fall.
In fairness, Arch Manning looked excellent last season when given the reins. Manning started two games for Texas while Ewers was out with an injury. In his two starts, Manning completed 41-of-his-60 pass attempts for 583 yards and four touchdowns while only throwing two interceptions. He also recorded 29 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Of course, Manning can’t single-handedly will Texas to an SEC Championship. Thankfully for the Longhorns, their defense should be stellar as well.
The team is returning six starters on defense, including preseason All-SEC First-Team selections Colin Simmons and Anthony Hill Jr. The pair each won individual Herbie Awards on Friday evening and will lead the Longhorns’ defense in the upcoming season.
After reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals the past two seasons, the Longhorns are battle-tested. Head coach Steve Sarkisian is confident in his roster heading into his fourth season at Texas’ helm.
“I do think we have a very hungry football team, one that is talented. I really like our roster,” Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days. “We’ve strung together now three really good recruiting classes of very talented people, but really good people that I think represent the University of Texas the right way. I really feel like we’ve navigated the portal well through three years, and this year was no different.
“I think we’ve filled needs on our roster where players can have an impact on our team immediately, not just to fill roster spots. But I think this is a championship roster. Now we’ve got to play like a championship team.”