Texas’ time at No. 1 was short-lived.
The Longhorns entered the 2025 college football season atop the AP Top 25 for the first time in school history. And they will not be atop the second set of this season’s rankings on Tuesday after a 14-7 loss to No. 3 Ohio State.
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The Buckeyes controlled most of the game as Texas’ offense struggled to get going and failed on a huge fourth down-attempt at the goal line in the second half. The Longhorns had one last chance to at least send the game to overtime late in the fourth quarter, but didn’t come close to scoring a touchdown before the Buckeyes stopped them.
It’s the second loss to Ohio State in as many games for the Longhorns after the Buckeyes ended Texas’ 2024 season in the Cotton Bowl in January. And the defeat also puts Texas in very rare company.
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The Longhorns are the first team since 1990 and just the eighth team overall to lose their first game of the season after being No. 1 in the first AP poll. Here are the other seven teams to begin the season at No. 1 and start 0-1. In 1976, Nebraska started the season No. 1 and tied its season-opener against LSU.
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Nebraska (1972)
The Cornhuskers traveled to UCLA to start the season and lost 20-17. The loss dropped Nebraska to No. 10 in the next set of rankings before the Cornhuskers worked their way back up to No. 3, when it eventually tied Iowa State 23-23 in November. Ultimately, Nebraska finished 9-2-1 after a season-ending loss to Oklahoma on Thanksgiving and beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.
Michigan (1981)
Michigan opened the season against an unranked conference foe in Wisconsin and fell 21-14 to the Badgers.
The Wolverines fell 10 spots in the rankings but made a jump after Week 2 thanks to a 25-7 win over new No. 1 Notre Dame. Michigan climbed as high as No. 5 before losing to No. 12 Iowa and finished the season 9-3 after beating UCLA 33-14 in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
Bo Jackson and Auburn lost their first two games of the 1984 season. (Getty Images)
(Bettmann via Getty Images)
Auburn (1984)
The Tigers finished 9-4 and are the only preseason No. 1 to start the season 0-2. To be fair, Auburn played both of those games against ranked opponents. The Tigers lost 20-18 against No. 10 Miami in Week 0 at the old Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. After falling to No. 11, Auburn lost 35-27 to No. 4 Texas the following week.
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Auburn won six straight games after that before losing 24-3 at No. 13 Florida and falling 17-15 to unranked Alabama to end the regular season.
Florida State (1988)
Like Auburn four years prior, Florida State also lost to Miami to open the season. Unlike Auburn, the game wasn’t close. Miami beat the Seminoles 31-0 to send the Seminoles tumbling to No. 10. That ended up being FSU’s only loss of the season as it went 11-1 and beat Auburn in the Sugar Bowl to finish at No. 3 in the final AP Top 25.
Michigan is the only team to lose two season openers after starting the season at No. 1. (Photo by John Biever/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
(John Biever via Getty Images)
Michigan (1989)
This one is a bit of a technicality. Michigan was voted the preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25 but didn’t begin the season until Sept. 16. Notre Dame actually surpassed the Wolverines for No. 1 in the country before Michigan even played a game thanks to the Fighting Irish’s win over Virginia on Aug. 31.
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Notre Dame was also Michigan’s first opponent of the season. The Irish won 24-19 to solidify their status at No. 1 and drop Michigan from No. 2 to No. 5. Michigan fell no lower than sixth in the AP poll the rest of the year before losing 17-10 to USC in the Rose Bowl.
Miami (1990)
The Hurricanes opened the 1990 season at No. 1 after back-to-back 11-1 campaigns. They promptly traveled to BYU and lost 28-21 to the No. 16 Cougars.
Miami fell to No. 10 and moved all the way back up to No. 1 before an Oct. 20 game at No. 6 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish won 29-20 to drop Miami to No. 8 as the Hurricanes won six straight to close the year at 10-2 and No. 3 in the top 25.
