SEC Analyst: Texas Longhorns Look 'Every Bit The Way Georgia Looked' During CFB Playoff Run

Heading into 2024, one analyst believes the Longhorns are on the cusp of being the next dominant force in college football.

April 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA: Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian watches from behind / Sara Diggins/USA Today Sports via

The Texas Longhorns are on a rocket like trajectory amongst the College Football elite.

In just three years under head coach Steve Sarkisian, the Horns have gone from a 5-7 program in the Big 12, to a College Football Playoff and national title contender in the SEC.

The majority of analysts also have the Longhorns in the mix with the Georgia Bulldogs - who they face off against on October 19 - as the favorites to win the SEC in just their first season.

In fact, one analyst even believes the Longhorns could be the next version of the Bulldogs, who have been the dominant force of college football under Kirby Smart over the last seven years, winning three national championships since 2017. And In the last three years alone, the Bulldogs have gone 42-2, and back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

Dec 31, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart gives a fist pump / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

“To me, the top two teams to beat right now are going to be Georgia and they’re going to be Texas," SEC analyst Peter Burns said during an appearance on the On The Beat Podcast. "I was just down in Austin, and I handled their spring football game. And it looks every bit like the way Georgia looked in 2021, in 2022, in 2023. I mean, they get off the bus, they’re monstrous people, they’re deep in every position and now they have a quarterback in Quinn Ewers coming back.”

Those are lofty expectations from Burns indeed, especially considering the losses the Horns suffered via the NFL Draft and NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason.

The Horns will be replacing 14 starters off of last year's team, 13 of which went to the NFL, including their top rusher in Jonathan Brooks, top four pass catchers in Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington and Ja'Tavion Sanders, and top two defensive players in defensive tackles Byron Murphy and T'Vondre Sweat.

That said, the Horns did a fantastic job this offseason replacing those losses via the portal and an elite recruiting class - so much so, that some believe the Horns could be even better than they were in their 2023 CFP run.

Whether they live up to those expectations or not remains to be seen. But for now, Burns believes the SEC appears to be Georgia, Texas and then everyone else.

"To me, I think the pecking order is Georgia, Texas," Burns said. "Then you have that kinda secondary tier that’s going to be full of Alabama, Ole Miss, and perhaps even Missouri at that point.

The Horns will have their first chance to prove themselves when they kick off the season on August 31 vs. Colorado State in Austin.