The Texas Longhorns fell two wins short of capturing the national championship in each of the past two seasons. The college-football commentariat expects Steve Sarkisian's squad to finally break through this winter.

The Preseason AP Poll was released Monday, and Texas landed at the No. 1 spot. The Longhorns are joined in the Top 5 by Penn State, Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia, which all rank 2 through 5, respectively.

Texas received 25 first-place votes and 1,552 points to give the Southeastern Conference the preseason No. 1 team for a record fifth straight year. The Nittany Lions got 23 first-place votes and 1,547 points for their highest preseason ranking since they were No. 1 to open the 1997 season.