Paul Finebaum: Texas 'absolutely' favorites to win national title with Arch Manning

Paul Finebaum is singing the praises of Texas. He believes Arch Manning is going to take the Longhorns to a new level ahead of the 2025 season.

It’s not exactly an earth-shattering prediction. Many are of the opinion that Manning will ascend to lead the Longhorns during his first full season of starting at the college level. To Finebaum, it’s a no-brainer.

“Absolutely,” Finabaum stated, regarding whether Texas is the favorite to win it all this coming season, via Get Up on Wednesday. “They have Arch Manning, in case you have not gotten that email from the front office. He is expected to be much better than Quinn Ewers. I was not that impressed with Quinn Ewers last year. I think Arch Manning, had he come in during the Cotton Bowl, may have had a better shot, may have even beaten Ohio State.

“He is going to be the leader of this team. They reloaded in the portal, to the tune of many millions and millions of dollars. I think Texas, other than having to go to Ohio State Week 1, is in great shape.”

Not everyone at ESPN is as high on Texas as Finebaum, though. Louis Riddick put the pause on the SEC Network analyst’s praise during the same segment. He has some concerns about the Longhorns, even if Manning seems ready to rock.

“It remains to be seen,” Riddick responded, not as enthusiastically. “Look, I love Sark to death. I talked to him before the draft, and he has a lot of faith in this young man. There’s no question about it. He has all the skills. He’s got tremendous athleticism in terms of off-schedule plays.

“Here’s the thing that worries me about Texas a little bit, okay? The offensive line took a hit. The wide receiver corps, top three guys gone on the defensive side. You lose a lockdown corner, you lose some pass rushers. There’s a lot of retooling that needs to go on here. I understand, in college football now, especially with the transfer portal, you can reshape your team in an instant. Texas is going to have to do that.

“They’re going to be going up against some teams this year that, quite honestly, I think, in some of the more critical areas, may be even stronger than they are. They have some questions to answer, as far as what’s going to happen at quarterback with them, but this is a football team that can reload with the best of them as well, and they can utilize the transfer portal as well as anyone, as they showed you last year.”

All told, Texas fans are hoping they can get over the hump after coming close to a national title the past two seasons, and their dreams hinge on Arch Manning’s play. Whether it’s Paul Finebaum or Louis Riddick, analysts are split. It’ll be up to the Longhorns to take care of business regardless.