As the calendar turns toward the 2025 college football season, a gripping storyline has emerged with ESPN’s Joe Fortenbaugh recently labeling Texas “the most overvalued team in all of college football.”
Coming off consecutive 12-win seasons and back-to-back CFP appearances, the Longhorns enter a critical moment in the Steve Sarkisian era—and ESPN believes the lights in Austin are turning a bit too bright.
Texas has a win total set at 10.5 —meaning bettors must see the team win 11 of 12 regular-season games to profit. Texas Longhorns odds for the season and game-by-game can be found here on FanDuel. But Fortenbaugh sees serious hurdles.
Problem areas that Fortenbaugh discussed include Texas’ Week 1 rematch in Columbus against the reigning National Champions, Ohio State, grueling road trips to Florida and Georgia in SEC play, and intense rivalry clashes with Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
“All we need are two losses,” Fortenbaugh said on Get Up. “They might be the most overvalued team in all of college football this year. The win total is 10.5. You’re only playing 12 games. Conference championships, playoffs? That stuff doesn’t count.”
Over the past few years, they’ve harnessed talent, but every step forward also heightens expectations. Now, with a national spotlight weighing heavily, Texas must prove it can pass not once, not twice, but three times in successive postseason pursuits.
Texas enters 2025 with national expectations and substantial risks aligned. ESPN’s assertion that they’re “most overvalued” isn’t clickbait—it’s a realized critique rooted in schedule strength and superficial win projections.
For the Big 12, whatever Texas does isn’t a massive storyline. Still, when the Longhorns crush SEC competition after years of struggling in the Big 12 Conference, it’s another feather in the cap of Brett Yormark come negotiation time.
