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Jul 23, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
“If you wanna be the champion, you gotta beat the champion.”
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian knows that his team will need to finally beat the Georgia Bulldogs to win the SEC, a sentiment reflected by the conference’s media members in the SEC preseason poll released on Friday in which Kirby Smart’s program landed 88 first-place votes and 2,519 points to edge out Texas as the predicted champion.
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The Longhorns received 57 first-place votes.
Texas can achieve its goal of winning a national championship without winning the SEC, although the path certainly gets more difficult — and less likely to happen — if the Horns can’t get past a potential matchup with the Bulldogs in Atlanta.
But the preseason poll rarely picks the conference champion accurately, as it happened only 10 times in 34 years.
On the All-SEC first team, the Longhorns had four players selected — junior wide receiver Cam Coleman, redshirt junior left tackle Trevor Goosby, junior edge Colin Simmons, senior linebacker Rasheem Biles, and redshirt junior return specialist Ryan Niblett. Redshirt junior quarterback Arch Manning, all-purpose player Niblett, and redshirt junior long snapper Trey Dubuc all received second-team recognition, while redshirt junior running back Hollywood Smothers, junior wide receiver Ryan Wingo, junior guard Brandon Baker, and senior safety Jelani McDonald were named to the third team.
After producing only 75 yards on offense last season, Niblett’s all-purpose selection came as a surprise, as did the snub of redshirt junior right tackle Melvin Siani.
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