SEC football power rankings after spring portal closes: Did Aggies get better?

Post-SEC Spring Power Rankings: #6 - Texas Longhorns

I promise this is only 50% a hater move, at the most.

There are a lot of people very high on the Longhorns coming into the SEC. They look at what Texas accomplished last year and feel as though, based in no small part on what the Horns did in Tuscaloosa in week 2, that it will translate well into the SEC. I get that logic—I really do.

But then I look at things like a late surge needed to beat an awful Iowa State team. Going to the fourth quarter tied with Wyoming before a pick-six broke the game open. Eking out a win over a horrendous Houston squad that should have been blown out no matter whether Quinn Ewers was playing. A three-point win over a sub-.500 TCU squad. Key players no-showing against OU and the playoff game versus Washington.

I look at those results, and then I look at what the Longhorns lost; namely, their entire defensive interior and several key defensive backs, not to mention three of their top four receivers from last year. All of this together, to me, spells trouble.

Now, the Horns have a remarkably easy SEC schedule for their first year. Anytime one of your road games is Vanderbilt, you’re sitting pretty. But contests against Georgia, Michigan, and at A&M have to worry Longhorn fans, not to mention Red River. And Vandy aside, the SEC is not a conference in which you can bring a C- game against teams you should win against and expect a record as unblemished as it was in 2023.

I’m just not a believer in Quinn Ewers to be that guy this year. Kelvin Banks is legit, and still one of the most painful misses from the 2022 class for the Aggies. Anthony Hill could be a star as well. But there are too many question marks and concerns from last year for me to buy in here. I’ve got Texas at 8-4—if that prediction comes to pass, especially if one of those losses is to the Aggies in Kyle, I’ll be very interested to see how things progress.