Texas is the talk of the town at its SEC Media Days debut, but can the Longhorns shine in the spotlight?

DALLAS – Texas senior all-conference defensive back Jahdae Barron is used to the question. He said it's the main question he's been asked all offseason.

"Is Texas ready for the SEC?"

He's seen it on Twitter. He's heard it from fans. He certainly heard it at SEC Media Days on Wednesday. But if he's being honest -- at least when it comes to the media portion of the Southeastern Conference's signature summer event -- it didn't really feel that different.

He hung out with his teammates. He got interesting questions. He also, in his words, "came fly again"  while rocking bedazzled slip on shoes and a grey suit.

"It's the same atmosphere, just a different conference," Barron said.

You wouldn't know it if you listened to anyone else in Dallas this week. Texas, and to a slightly lesser degree Oklahoma, were the talk of the town.

The Longhorns spoke on Day 3 of SEC Media Days, which meant eight head coaches hit the podium before Texas even arrived on site. Of those eight coaches, seven of them – all except Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz – were asked about Texas in some capacity.

The questions came quick, too. Brian Kelly was asked a question about Texas to lead off the week, and the Longhorns aren't even on the Tigers' 2024 schedule. Kirby Smart was asked if he considered the Longhorns to be "one of the best" teams in the league before they took a snap in the SEC. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea? The first question he fielded was about hosting the Longhorns in October. Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks even got a question about opposing fan bases hating the Longhorns, and they haven't even joined the conference yet!

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey may have pushed back on the idea Texas will have outsized influence in the SEC –- a reality in the Longhorns' old Big 12 stomping grounds -– but it sure felt like, at least in July, everyone couldn't get enough of Texas.

"I think they're one of the elite rosters in America," Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said.

The thing is, Texas is quite used to being the center of attention.

So used to it, in fact, the Longhorns' annual preseason hype train turned into a near decade-long joke.

"Is Texas back?"

They weren't for years. There were glimmers of hope like a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia to end the 2018 season. But Texas time and time again failed to capitalize on its talent and recapture the momentum Mack Brown built in the 2000s.

Then came last year. Steve Sarkisian followed up an 8-5 Year 2 with a 12-2 run that included a Big 12 title and a trip to the College Football Playoff. Back indeed.

But that's the thing about college football. Momentum can change in an instant. Texas may be a preseason top-5 team -- and will very likely rank second in the SEC's preseason poll when it comes out later this week. But unless the Longhorns manage to sustain momentum and win 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2008-09, that special 2023 season will quickly feel like ancient history.

Sarkisian remembers how it feels to be on the other side of the hype train. He went 5-7 in his 2021 Longhorn debut, which immediately led to questions about his ability to lead the program.

"I'll tell you this much, 5-7 in Austin, Texas sucks," Sarkisian said. "That was hard. That was hard on me. That was hard on players. That was hard on a lot of people."

Just three years ago -- really even a year-and-a-half ago -- people questioned how Texas would handle its transition to the SEC. Now, the Longhorns are seemingly back among college football's short list of contenders. It's a whiplash of trajectory and prognostication that isn't lost on anyone within the program.

They know if they don't continue to build and sustain the consistency they found a season ago, it can all come crashing down.

That's why Baron is thankful for Texas' heartbreaking 37-31 Sugar Bowl loss to Washington last season.

"I'm glad we had that taste last year, now we have that opportunity to work every single day to not have that taste again," Baron said. Everybody goes through something in life. How you figure out a man's character is to adapt to something like that. I think as a team we're going to adapt very well."

Texas did lose a lot from that 2023 team. Eleven draft picks departed, including five players selected in the first or the second round of the NFL Draft. Yet plenty of riches remain in Austin. The Longhorns return a Heisman candidate at quarterback in Quinn Ewers, 15 total starters and plenty of reinforcements (they hauled in one of the top transfer AND recruiting classes in the country for the 2024 cycle).

It's as Kiffin said: The Longhorns have one of the elite rosters in the country.

Texas is always going to be part of the conversation because of its brand. But it's the Longhorns' talent, a legitimate top-5 roster in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite , that has the program in position to be the hunted even as they enter what many would argue is the best league in college football.

Not that you'd catch the Longhorns admitting as much. They might have confidence after toppling Alabama on the road last year –- the Tide's first home non-conference loss in 16 years -– and reaching the playoff, but you won't see them banging their chest even as a Bevo-sized spotlight shines over their every move in Dallas.

"We just want to gain respect," Banks said of moving into the SEC. "We respect them. But we want them to respect (us) as well."