Texas football fans may not believe it, but Longhorns are now ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25

For the first time since 2008, the Texas Longhorns are the No. 1 ranked college football team in America.

Before arguing whether Texas (3-0) should have leapfrogged Georgia (3-0) in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, Longhorns fans should just sit with, mull over and digest that first sentence a little bit longer.

This could be a special season in Austin. Sure, quarterback Quinn Ewers was knocked out of Saturday’s game with a strained abdomen. But backup Arch Manning lit Royal-Memorial Stadium on fire, accounting for five touchdowns in a 56-7 blowout over UTSA.

With former No. 1 Georgia struggling on the road at Kentucky, voters rewarded Steve Sarkisian’s club. Typically, voters don’t hold it against you for winning ugly on the road. Kentucky is no slouch, and Wildcats fans arguably feel like their team let a win slip through their fingers.

Georgia won 13-12. Meanwhile in Austin, Texas beat up an overmatched UTSA club 56-7.

Last week, Georgia had 54 first-place votes, and Texas had only four. Third-place Ohio State actually had five first-place votes.

But Sunday, when the poll was updated, Texas had 35, Georgia 23 and Ohio State five.

Texas also leapfrogged Georgia in the Football Writers Association of America-National Football Foundation Super 16 poll. The Longhorns were ranked second last week. When the poll was updated Sunday, Texas had 828 points and 26 first-place votes. No. 2 Georgia had 817 points and 24 first-place votes.

The Longhorns have a long and storied history as the No. 1-ranked team in the AP poll, but it’s been a while.

Texas hasn’t been ranked No. 1 since the now-infamous 39-33 loss at No. 6 Texas Tech on Nov. 1, 2008 — derisively known as the “Michael Crabtree game.” Crabtree made a sensational catch near the sideline and raced in for the score, knocking Texas out of the national title hunt in the process.

Before the 2008 season, Texas had not been ranked No. 1 since 1984. The Longhorns were regulars atop the poll off and on during the 1960s and 1970s. Texas has an all-time record of 30-7-3 when ranked as the No. 1 team.

The 2009 team was ranked No. 2 or No. 3 the entire season before facing No. 1 Alabama in the BCS national championship game. Alabama won that game 37-21 and finished the season ranked No. 1 while Texas finished No. 2.

Since that game, Texas has various fits and starts, getting into the top 10 numerous times only to falter against usually inferior opponents. That was until last season under Sarkisian. Texas started 11th in the preseason poll and rose to third overall en route to winning the Big 12 title and making the College Football Playoff.

While being ranked No. 1 in September is nice, it's rather meaningless to a degree. Even Georgia's Kirby Smart would admit that. It's possible Texas could face Georgia three times this season — Oct. 19 during the regular season, the SEC championship game and the CFP, if all falls right.

The Longhorns are laser-focused on doing well in their first season in the SEC and earning a high seed in the new 12-team CFP format.

But for now, Texas is No. 1 going into Saturday's home game against Louisiana-Monroe.