Texas Football Betting Preview | Opening Point Spreads and Projections
After years of pundits questioning when Texas football would be “back,” the Longhorns enjoyed a fantastic 2023-24 season with a Big XII Championship and a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Now a member of the SEC, can Texas stay at the top of the college football landscape, or is regression on the horizon?
2024 Football GoldSheet Newsletter Pre-Sale!
Early-bird pricing is now available for the 2024 Football GoldSheet newsletter. Take advantage of our best offer and lock in the 2024-25 Football GoldSheet newsletter at the lowest available price, which will increase on the first of each month until the college football season kicks off in late August.
1) Visit https://wt.buzz/tgs
2) Add the 2024 Football GoldSheet Newsletter Pre-Sale to your cart. No promo code or coupons are needed.
3) Enjoy weekly coverage of the NFL and college football with in-depth analysis, stat comparisons, proprietary power ratings, key releases and much more.
2024 Texas Football Schedule
| Date | Opponent | GoldSheet Line |
| Aug 31 | vs Colorado State | -34 |
| Sept 7 | at Michigan | +1 |
| Sept 14 | vs UTSA | -25 |
| Sept 21 | vs UL-Monroe | -49 |
| Sept 28 | vs Mississippi State | -26 |
| Oct 5 | Bye | |
| Oct 12 | vs Oklahoma (In Dallas) | -6 |
| Oct 19 | vs Georgia | +5 |
| Oct 26 | at Vanderbilt | -31 |
| Nov 2 | Bye | |
| Nov 9 | vs Florida | -18 |
| Nov 16 | at Arkansas | -18 |
| Nov 23 | vs Kentucky | -17 |
| Nov 30 | at Texas A&M | -3 |
The Longhorns will be welcomed to the SEC with a relatively light conference schedule: No Alabama. No LSU. No Ole Miss. And you get to host Georgia.
Texas will be tested early with a Week 2 trip to Michigan, but the Longhorns’ season will likely be decided in mid-October with back-to-back games against the Sooners and Bulldogs. Texas has traditionally not done well the week after Red River, and the Longhorns are going to have to break that trend this year. Texas barely got by lowly Houston last year after playing Oklahoma the week prior. In 2022 they beat Iowa State by a field goal the week after Red River. In 2021 they lost to Oklahoma State.
DraftKings has released Game of the Year lines for five of the Longhorns’ contests this season:
- Texas -3.5 at Michigan
- Texas -8.5 vs Oklahoma
- Texas +2 vs Georgia
- Texas -16.5 at Arkansas
- Texas -4.5 at Texas A&M
Texas Football Betting Odds
| National Championship | +750 |
| SEC Championship | +320 |
| To Make the CFP | Yes -225 / No +180 |
| Season Win Total | 10.5 (o +140 / u -170) |
| To Go Undefeated | Yes +425 / No -600 |
| Quinn Ewers Heisman | +1000 |
Odds above courtesy of DraftKings as of Thursday, July 18. There has been a little bit of anti-Texas sentiment in the betting market over the summer. “No” to make the College Football Playoff has attracted some money, and the juice on under 10.5 regular season wins has been pushed out to -170.
Texas Football Returning Production
Texas is expected to return 12 starters from last year’s team: Five on offense and seven on defense. According to Bill Connelly’s latest SP+ update, the Longhorns are projected to return 67-percent of their production from last season: 73-percent on offense and 61-percent on defense.
Texas had 11 players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, including five in the first two rounds. Coach Sarkisian hit the recruiting trail hard in the offseason by attracting the No. 5 class of incoming talent (freshmen plus transfers). Texas will be welcoming a trio of top-30 transfers to Austin this season: Wide receiver Isaiah Bond from Alabama, safety Andrew Mukuba from Clemson and defensive end Trey Moore from UTSA.
The biggest question for the Longhorns entering the 2024-25 season is the confidence in quarterback Quinn Ewers. Is prized recruit Arch Manning going to sit for another full season? If Ewers has a bad game, how loud with the chants for Manning get? Coach Sarkisian was able to avoid that controversy last year, but keeping the former No. 1 recruit in the country on the bench for two full seasons is not something we see very often in this era of college football.
GoldSheet College Football Preview
The GoldSheet team has assembled a FREE 60-page college football guide to help you get ready for the 2024-25 NCAAF season. Did you enjoy this Texas football preview? We’ve got plenty more where that came from. We break down every schedule from every team with projected point spreads, win probabilities and much more. Stay up-to-date on coaching moves, quarterback transfers and conference re-alignment with this complimentary download.
NCAAF Team Previews
Here are the top-25 (actually, 27) teams in our opening power ratings for the 2024 college football season:
| 1) Georgia | T11) Missouri | T21) Arizona |
| 2) Ohio State | T11) Oklahoma | T21) USC |
| 3) Oregon | T11) Texas A&M | T23) Auburn |
| 4) Alabama | T14) Clemson | T23) Washington |
| 5) Texas | T14) Florida State | T23) Iowa State |
| 6) Penn State | 16) Tennessee | T23) TCU |
| 7) Michigan | 17) Kansas State | T23) Oklahoma State |
| 8) Ole Miss | T18) Louisville | |
| 9) Notre Dame | T18) Utah | |
| 10) LSU | T18) Miami (Fla) |
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the point spreads, moneylines, totals and betting percentages through every week of the college football season. Oh yeah, you can also find free college football picks and predictions!
**************************************************
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
