The coaches slotted the Horns ahead of the Ducks, but the writers did not.
The Texas Longhorns finished the 2024 season with a top-five finish in the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 for the first time since the 2008-09 seasons thanks to a 13-3 record that included an appearance in the SEC Championship game and the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Slotted at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll behind national champion Ohio State and national runner-up Notre Dame, Texas was ranked behind Oregon in the AP poll after the Ducks lost to the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals.
Arizona State, the Peach Bowl opponent for head coach Steve Sarkisian’s program, finished ranked No. 7 in both polls while Clemson, the first-round matchup for Texas, was ranked No. 11 by the coaches and No. 14 by the AP.
That means the Horns ended the 2024 season with wins against two ranked teams and two other teams that received votes in the final AP poll — the Gators and the Aggies.