The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas matches best-ever AP preseason ranking
08.20.2005 | Football
With a No. 2 ranking, Texas matched its highest-ever Associated Press Preseason standing when the media poll was released on Sunday. The last time the Longhorns entered the year ranked second in the AP Preseason Poll was 1970. UT also was rated second entering the 1962 and 1965 seasons.
The No. 2 AP preseason ranking matched the Longhorns standing in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll released on August 5. That No. 2 national ranking was Texas' highest in the coaches poll since 2002, when it ranked second for the first eight weeks of the season.
It marks the sixth consecutive season the Longhorns have opened the year in The AP Top 10 and the fourth time in the last five years they have been ranked in the Top 5. Texas has finished the year ranked among The AP Top 10 in three of the last five years and is riding a UT record streak of five straight AP Top 12 finishes.
"The AP preseason ranking is interesting because it shows respect from writers and reporters around the country," Brown said. "We're really excited to be ranked second and feel like it shows great respect for our football program, the way we finished last year, and the number of guys we have coming back this year. We also understand that where you finish at the end of the year is important; where you finish at the first of the year is simply respect."
Texas, which entered last season ranked No. 7 in The AP Preseason Poll, completed its school-record fourth consecutive 10 (or more)-win season in 2004. The Horns finished the year with a school-best 11 victories (11-1), a Rose Bowl Championship and closed the season with a No. 5 ranking in The AP Poll. It was Texas second Top Five finish in the past four years. Prior to its No. 5 AP ranking in 2001, the last time the Horns had finished in the Top 5 was 1983.
The Longhorns received 1,500 points and four first place votes in The AP Preseason Top 25. UT, which garnered two first place votes in The USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll, joined No. 1 USC as the only programs to receive first-place votes in both polls. The Trojans totaled 1,619 points and 60 of the possible 65 AP Poll first-place votes. Tennessee (1,426), Michigan (1,387), and LSU (1,328) rounded out the Top 5.
In all, four Big 12 Conference teams were ranked in the Top 25 with Oklahoma ranking seventh, Texas A&M ranking 17th and Texas Tech 21st.
The Longhorns open the 2005 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 3, when they host Louisiana-Lafayette at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (6 p.m./FSN).
