Soccer simply appears to imply a little bit bit extra in Texas.
The Texas Longhorns aren’t the one school soccer group within the state, however they’re completely a nationwide blue blood and a fantastic illustration of how football-centric the state might be.
They’re additionally traditionally a profitable program. Sure, there have been robust occasions in latest reminiscence, however this can be a program that has been round since 1893 and has collected a ton of wins. That features 4 nationwide championships and 33 bowl-game victories.
Unusually sufficient, although, previous to Monday, the Longhorns had by no means began the season ranked No. 1 within the AP High 25 ballot.
Within the freshly minted preseason AP Top 25, Texas beat out Penn State for the highest rating. It was shut, although. In actual fact, the AP, by way of ESPN, is reporting that that is the closest preseason ballot since 1998.
“Texas acquired 25 first-place votes and 1,552 factors to provide the Southeastern Convention the preseason No. 1 group for a file fifth straight yr,” the AP wrote. “The Nittany Lions obtained 23 first-place votes and 1,547 factors for his or her highest preseason rating since they had been No. 1 to open the 1997 season.”
Texas went 13-3 final season and made all of it the best way to the Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinal earlier than shedding to the eventual champion, Ohio State.
The Longhorns misplaced 12 gamers to the NFL Draft. There’s all the time turnover season to season, however head coach Steve Sarkisian is without doubt one of the finest recruiters within the nation, and he additionally did a fantastic job of bringing in new expertise by way of the switch portal.
There’s additionally the truth that Texas may very well be upgrading at quarterback, because the Longhorns are diving head-first into the Arch Manning period. Former beginning quarterback Quinn Ewers went 27-9 as a starter for the Longhorns, which might’t be simply discounted, however appreciable hype surrounds Manning and what he might accomplish because the full-time starter.
All of it provides as much as a preseason No. 1 rating for Texas, and a historic one at that.
