The Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns were intertwined in the same narrative by CBS Sports' Chip Patterson, who believes Arch Manning's last dance in Austin "tunes up nicely with Ohio State's bounce-back effort, since their intertwined redemption storylines will collide in Week 2 and continue throughout the season."
Patterson believes the Buckeyes' failings in 2025, which happened at the end of the season against the champion Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship Game and the runner-up Miami Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl Classic, are similar to the Longhorns', which came against OSU, the Florida Gators, and the Georgia Bulldogs. Of course, one of those losses is not like the others (hint: Billy Napier coached the odd one out).
Patterson also believes that the 2026 season will have similar expectations for Ryan Day, who is two years removed from winning a national championship, and Steve Sarkisian, who couldn't lead a generational quarterback and the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 high school class to the CFP.
These two teams don't have the same problems, though, besides having questions about the offensive line. Even then, it's Ohio State that has most of its group coming back, while Texas' interior offensive line sees a major overhaul at the guard spots.
Ryan Day has won it all and just needs coordinators to hit. Steve Sarkisian needs a deep run to remain in good graces.
Day enters the 2026 season with a moderate amount of pressure, which simply comes with the territory of being the head football coach at the Ohio State University. He hired Arthur Smith, who looks good on paper but needs to play out on the field before a judgment is made either way. Matt Patricia made Day look like a genius last year, but he, of course, needs to maintain that level of coaching excellence. Overall, the Buckeyes are a bad year away from being in the position Sark is in with the Horns.
Sarkisian has repeatedly insisted on being the team's play-caller and hasn't hired an offensive coordinator to take over those reins. He just hired Will Muschamp to get the most out of elite defenders like EDGE Collin Simmons, safety Jelani McDonald, and a slew of defensive transfers who are looking to use Texas as a springboard to the NFL. That needs to work out, as does the skill-position transfers Sark brought in to boost Manning during his final season.
There's a desperation in Central Texas that just doesn't exist in Central Ohio this coming year. If anything, the Buckeyes' focus is on dealing with the incredibly tough schedule and going from there. Sark's future with the Longhorns is legitimately in question, with politics playing a major role behind the scenes, and underrecruitment of the trenches and a reluctance to outsource responsibilities being something critics are playing up.
These two should not be intertwined besides their Week 2 matchup, even though both programs are undeniably major storylines heading into the 2026 season.
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