Coach Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns are predicted to return to national prominence this season, so it comes as no surprise to see them show up in every set of college football rankings. Just how high they should be ranked is the question. They are ranked anywhere from ninth to 17th heading into their season-opening showdown with the Wyoming Cowboys of the Mountain West Conference.
Jason Kirk, the lead college football writer for SB Nation, has compiled some of the more popular ratings systems into a composite top 25. Texas checks in at No.13 in Kirk's table, which uses seven different polls. He suggests that the Longhorns are in the fifth tier of college football's elite at the start of the 2012 season.
You can see a few clear tiers at the top, with Florida State and the Georgia Bulldogs following the upper crust and lower-upper crust. The South Carolina Gamecocks, Michigan Wolverines and Arkansas Razorbacks form the next bunch, followed by the Wisconsin Badgers, West Virginia Mountaineers, Texas Longhorns and Michigan St. Spartans.
Texas received its highest ranking from Football Outsiders (a good sign for those that believe in advanced statistics) and their lowest came from the BCS simulation.
For more on the Texas Longhorns, head over to Burnt Orange Nation. To fulfill your college football fix, be sure to visit SB Nation's NCAA Football hub.