Texas opens season No. 1 in Coaches Poll for first time in program history

For the first time in program history, Texas football will open as the No. 1 team in the US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25. The rankings were announced on Monday, with the Longhorns receiving 1,606 points. Ohio State, Texas' season-opening opponent, ranks as the No. 2 team in the country, setting the stage for 1-2 clash in Week 1.

"I don't really care about the rankings, truth be told," Steve Sarkisian recently said about the potential of the Longhorns being No. 1. "I've sat up here and said the rankings don't matter when we weren't ranked highly, and I don't think that's going to change if we are ranked higher. Preseason rankings are great. They're great for the fans and the popularity of our sport. It keeps the conversation of college football on the forefront of peoples' minds, the media and things of that nature. I think that that's awesome for our sport the fact that we're talking about Week 1 matchups and all those things. But in reality they don't matter. You know, what we do on the field, the way we perform, is going to be ultimately what dictates how our season goes.

"I'm excited about this season, and it is a little bit different because the reality of it is I think I have one player left on our roster that was 5-7, and that's Michael Taaffe. The majority of the players on our roster, the big bulk of the players on our roster don't know anything but playing in conference championship games, going to the College Football Playoff and playing in the semifinals. So different challenges, right? Early in our years we were trying to convince our guys we were worthy of winning with the work we put in. Now it's to make sure we've got the right mindset going into a season and reminding them of how far we've come from where we were, but not making them feel bad for where we're at today. Because there's been a lot of hard work and time and effort on the coaches' part, their part, and the administration's part to get us to this point. But it's an exciting time. I like our team. I like the hunger of this team. I like the energy, it's youthful. They're connected. That parts always fun for me when you get ready to go to training camp."

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The rest of the Coaches Poll Top 25 includes:

1. Texas

2. Ohio State

3. Penn State

4. Georgia

5. Notre Dame

6. Clemson

7. Oregon

8. Alabama

9. LSU

10. Miami (FL)

11. Arizona State

12. Illinois

13. South Carolina

14. Michigan

15. Ole Miss

16. SMU

17. Florida

18. Tennessee

19. Indiana

20. Kansas State

21. Texas A\&M

22. Iowa State

23. BYU

24. Texas Tech

25. Boise State

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