Texas Longhorns College Football Betting - CFB Lines

2024 Texas Longhorns College Football Betting

When interacting with much of the Texas Longhorns fanbase, one quickly notices a sense of self-importance, oversized arrogance, and perhaps a general lack of college football awareness. Their sense of entitlement and privilege is matched only by Michigan, which finally won the national championship last year after decades of underachieving. Yet, when you examine Texas as a football brand, it is a lot of ten-gallon hats without much cattle. The record reveals a program that is desperate for relevance that was lost 15 years ago.

College Football Futures Lines

2024 Texas Longhorns Betting Preview

Since losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide 37-21 in the 2009 season national championship game, the Longhorns have never been that close to the prize. Of course, the Bevo Bros will talk about that loss to the Tide with the alibi that if QB Colt McCoy were not injured, it would have been different. Judging by Alabama’s dynasty starting that night, that lament is doubtful.

Since that fateful night against Alabama at the Rose Bowl, Texas has put together only two double-digit win seasons in the past 14 years. Certainly, the 2023 campaign was tremendously encouraging and assumed to be a breakout. The Longhorns went 12-2, beat Alabama on the road, and made the College Football Playoff, where they were defeated 37-31 by Washington.

Now comes the question of whether or not Texas is here to stay. In 2018, we had a false alarm when coach Tom Herman led the Horns to a 10-4 record and a win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. “Texas is Back!” was the cry. But it was a mirage. Herman was fired two years later in favor of Steve Sarkisian, who had gone 5-7 and 8-5 before last year’s epic ride.

In 2024 Texas should have its best team since Sark arrived. And they are going to need it. Texas is leaving the relatively weaker Big 12 Conference and its seven-on-seven football culture for the man-eating SEC, where it just means more.

If Texas’ offense has reloaded successfully with portal pass-catchers, and if the defense can develop a solid rotation of interior linemen, the Longhorns have a chance to contend in Year 1 in the SEC with the goal of reaching the 12-team College Football Playoff. Playing at Michigan on Sept. 7 will be an early barometer.

With Quinn Ewers, a Heisman Trophy favorite, and sophomore backup Arch Manning at quarterback, Sarkisian is simply reloading a unit that averaged 35.8 points per game in reaching the College Football Playoff in 2023.

It might be too much to expect Texas’ defense to maintain its No. 3 FBS ranking against the run in 2023 (82.4 ypg) after losing 2023 Outland Award winner T’Vondre Sweat, Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year Byron Murphy and two-time first-team All-Big 12 middle linebacker Jaylan Ford — all to the NFL Draft. But Texas has a lot of returning talent.

2024 Texas Longhorns Football Schedule

Texas has a total of four claimed and five unclaimed national championships. Their last title was in 2005, which was their first since 1970. This stunning fact indicates a good program but hardly the juggernaut it considers itself to be. Texas has an impressive 32 conference championships.

Former head coach Mack Brown showed the potential of the Texas program. Brown led the Longhorns to the 2005 and 2009 national championship games. From 2001 through 2009, Brown led Texas to the final top ten national rankings six times.

Following a loss in the 2009 national championship game to the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas rapidly declined and has never been close to reaching that level. Brown vehemently denies it, but the program turned soft in his final years. A sense of entitlement took over the program. In fact, Texas began being derided as the “tea sippers.”

Texas dominated the Big 12 Conference board room, which led to that sense of entitlement. ESPN gave the Longhorns their own network, and the Big 12 caved to almost all of the Longhorns' demands. It caused karma that damaged the program and removed its hard edge.

2024-2025 College Football Schedule

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10
• Week 11
• Week 12
• Week 13
• Week 14
• Week 15
• Week 16

Log into BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best NCAA Football Betting Odds, NCAA Football Betting Articles and information about this and all other sports betting events!