Posted August 21st, 2010 by Jack
Filed under: Feature, Football

I know a lot of us burnt orange types are scoffing those little upstarts in Boise right now for being ranked ahead of Texas.  They play in the WAC, which might as well be the Sun Belt of the West Coast.  Well, they’re bringing back 20 starters from a team that beat TCU last season – no small feat, except that those Frogs came out of a weak-sister conference as well. I think anytime a team has gone 26-1 over the last two seasons and returns that many guys NOT placing them in the top 10 is criminal.  I’d be more alarmed at Florida losing Saint Tim and being ranked ahead of UT (they’re 4th, the Horns are 5th) than Boise’s AP ranking.

Bringing back 20 starters from an undefeated BCS win season is unreal.  I can’t bring twenty out of twenty-two socks back from the dryer, yet the Smurf Turf crew is loaded.  Heck, the one guy on defense they lost – Kyle Wilson – is probably going to start at corner for the Jets unless they get the Revis situation under control. Boise State has a little left-handed Major clone with the unfortunate name of Kellen Moore.  If he was in Lubbock last season, he would have worn a practice jersey with “Brock” or “Rusty” on the back.  This kid has lost one game over the past two seasons – some 3rd rate bowl in San Francisco to TCU, later avenged – and put up 39 TD’s to 3 picks in 2009.  I don’t care if he’s playing East Dillon 14 times a year – that’s impressive.  I can’t even do that on varsity mode on NCAA 10 with Colt and Ship.

Most Longhorn fans I know think Boise and remember a bunch of trick plays, a marriage proposal to a cheerleader, a dumbfounded Bob Stoops, and a night in January five years ago where they were every UT diehard on the planet’s second favorite team.  They do have some games this year that don’t involve weak conference play – opening at Virginia Tech and then having Oregon State coming to town two weeks later.  If they win both of those and run the table they can go to the championship game for all I care.  The David versus Goliath matchup against someone like Bama, Ohio State, or even UT will be compelling television and a probable mismatch.  Beating two loss OU was magical, sure.  These guys want to play with the grown-ups now, and they’ll be treated as such when the time comes.  I don’t think they’re the third best team in college football, but they can take a #3 ranking in the preseason when we’re comparing stats, past performances, and predicting the future.  Why not?  The paper is all there – starters returning, 09 won-loss record, and a favorable schedule.

Is it fair that they’ll play one, maybe two (if the Beavers knock off the Frogs in Jerryworld week one) ranked teams all year and Texas has a four game stretch with Tech, UCLA, OU, and Nebraska?  Hell no it isn’t.  There’s a very real chance we get to cheer on the BCS computers after the Horns go to Lincoln and win and the Broncos get San Jose State at home the same night.  The only real injustice a #3 preseason ranking does is if it results in shutting an undefeated BCS team out of the championship game.  If that happens, I’ll get back on my soapbox and whine.

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During an interview this week, Texas head coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] clearly states that there should not be a distinction between BCS and non-BCS schools and that all schools should be treated equally. Somehow, ESPN spend the next 36 hours claiming Mack had said non-BCS schools didn’t belong in the national title game. Say what? Watch for yourself below:

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The BCS standings for the week have been released and the Texas Longhorns are still sitting at number 3. The team’s impressive win over Missouri did earn the Horns a few first place votes and overall points in the human polls, and that gain allowed the Horns to gain ground on both [tag]Florida[/tag] and [tag]Alabama[/tag] in the BCS standings.

Iowa and TCU made big jumps in the rankings but Texas should still control their own destiny. As we see every Saturday, anything can happen so just worry about what you can control between the lines. Keep winning and the rest should take care of itself.

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Posted October 24th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Football

SI.com is predicting the second half of the 2009 season and they don’t foresee good things for the Texas Longhorns. Only one out of six of their experts thinks the Horns will end up in the BCS title game and even worse that would mean some awful “no win” matchups in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas better keep winning, because a bowl game against [tag]Boise State[/tag], [tag]Cincinnati[/tag], or [tag]TCU[/tag] does not sound fun.

Link: SI.com’s 2009 midseason Crystal Ball

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Posted November 23rd, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

The latest BCS rankings are out and despite the gains by [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] in the two human polls, Texas has taken advantage of the the [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] loss and moved up two spots to number two in the rankings. The computer polls are the reason the Horns are hanging on now but since the Sooners play a ranked team this week it may take an impressive Thanksgiving Day win to remind voters that the Horns actually beat the Sooners when they matched up in October.

Check out the top 10 below:

Rank Team BCS Average
1 Alabama 0.987
2 Texas 0.920
3 Oklahoma 0.912
4 Florida 0.875
5 USC 0.797
6 Utah 0.785
7 Texas Tech 0.778
8 Penn St. 0.752
9 Boise St. 0.658
10 Ohio St. 0.620
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Posted November 10th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Thanks to a (joyous) [tag]Penn State[/tag] loss the Longhorns have moved up another spot in the latest BCS rankings released Sunday. Thanks to that loss and human voters seeing the error of their ways, Texas is third ahead of [tag]Florida[/tag] and more importantly [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]. The Horns dropped big from number one after their loss to [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] but moved back passed those teams this week in both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the Harris Poll.

Texas’ ranking against the Sooners is huge on the chance their is a three-way tie between those two teams and the Red Raiders for the Big 12 South. In that scenario the division winner will be determined by which team has the highest BCS ranking. If the Horns end up winning out and in the Big 12 Championship, a win over the North’s representative would likely mean a shot at the whole enchilada.

The BCS top 10 rankings are listed below:

BCS Harris Poll USA Today Comp. Rankings
  Team BCS Avg Prvs RK Pts % RK Pts % Avg %
1 Alabama .9814 1 1 2808 .9853 1 1508 .9889 2 .970
2 Texas Tech .9715 2 2 2768 .9712 2 1469 .9633 1 .980
3 Texas .8798 4 4 2471 .8670 5 1300 .8525 3 .920
4 Florida .8640 5 3 2531 .8881 3 1348 .8839 T-5 .820
5 Oklahoma .8444 6 5 2427 .8516 4 1314 .8616 T-5 .820
6 USC .7896 7 6 2329 .8172 6 1268 .8315 8 .720
7 Utah .7692 8 8 2034 .7137 7 1104 .7239 4 .870
8 Penn State .6839 3 7 2073 .7274 8 1074 .7043 10 .620
9 Boise State .6783 10 9 1940 .6807 9 1028 .6741 9 .680
10 Georgia .6156 13 12 1581 .5547 12 842 .5521 7 .740

Related: View the full BCS rankings

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The Longhorns lost the battle to [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] on Saturday but they still haven’t lost the war. The new BCS rankings were revealed tonight and Texas fell only to number four, behind [tag]Alabama[/tag], [tag]Penn State[/tag], and Texas Tech who moved all the way up to number two. The Horns still have a every good chance to end up back in the top two and headed to the national title game.

All the Horns need is for two teams ahead of them to go down, and with the remaining schedules ahead for both Tech and Alabama that is a distinct possibility. Texas fans need to be rooting hard for [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] and [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag] the next few weeks and for [tag]LSU[/tag] this week against Alabama. The team needs to take care of business during the final weeks of the season for any of this to matter, but fans will be doing a lot of scoreboard watching.

The BCS top 10 rankings are listed below:

BCS Harris Poll USA Today Comp. Rankings
  Team BCS Avg Prvs RK Pts % RK Pts % Avg %
1 Alabama .9747 2 1 2798 .9818 1 1498 .9823 T-1 .960
2 Texas Tech .9372 7 3 2644 .9277 3 1409 .9239 T-1 .960
3 Penn State .9286 3 2 2689 .9435 2 1437 .9423 4 .900
4 Texas .8531 1 6 2322 .8147 7 1227 .8046 3 .940
5 Florida .8268 8 4 2391 .8389 5 1268 .8315 5 .810
6 Oklahoma .8220 4 5 2366 .8302 4 1290 .8459 9 .790
7 USC .7551 5 7 2273 .7975 6 1232 .8079 10 .660
8 Utah .6972 10 9 1864 .6540 9 1018 .6675 7 .770
9 Oklahoma State .6660 9 8 2021 .7091 8 1066 .6990 11 .590
10 Boise State .6529 11 10 1797 .6305 10 958 .6282 8 .700

Related: View the full BCS rankings

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Posted October 14th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Football

For the second time this year 3 of the Top 4 teams in the nation lose. No one is safe at the top, and most of the Top 10 will be playing each other in the next few weeks so expect to see even more changes. So far this year is looking even crazier than last year.

  1. [tag]Alabama[/tag]
    Alabama
    LW: 3

    Even though they didn’t play, I don’t think they deserved to be bumped down below Texas.

  2. [tag]Texas[/tag]
    Texas
    LW: 5

    Texas won with Colt’s leadership and the defense stepping up at the right times. Will Muschamp has the defense improving every week. It was kind of nice cruising through the season unnoticed, but that time is definitely over.

  3. [tag]Penn State[/tag]
    Penn State
    LW: 7

    I guess I to move up Penn State after their blowout win. It looks like they are definitely the class of the Big 10, though that is not saying very much.

  4. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]
    Oklahoma
    LW: 1

    Sam Bradford threw for 5 touchdowns and still lost. Oklahoma has a great team and their schedule is setup to keep them in a BCS bowl game.

  5. [tag]Florida[/tag]
    Florida
    LW: 11

    I had watched Florida play a few times this year, but I have never seen the speed and precision they displayed against LSU. They have some of the fastest running backs in the nation, and if they can keep Tim Tebow from making mistakes they should be good.

  6. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]
    Texas Tech
    LW: 8

    Texas Tech played like crap but was surprisingly still able to come out with a win against Nebraska. They have a pretty easy road before playing Texas at home.

  7. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]
    Oklahoma State
    LW: 15

    Not sure if was too much of an upset, but Oklahoma State managed to put a hurting on Mizzou. Oklahoma State has proven they definitely have the offense, but do they have the defense to hang with the big boys.

  8. [tag]Missouri[/tag]
    Missouri
    LW: 2

    I am actually pretty disappointed that Mizzou lost, because that would have meant Texas would play two #1 teams in a row. Now that Mizzou has lost, Texas will definitely be expected to beat them this Saturday.

  9. [tag]USC[/tag]
    USC
    LW: 10

    Looks like USC is getting back into form after totally dominating Arizona State 28-0. They probably have the easiest schedule left of any Top 10 and will probably somehow backdoor their way into the national championship.

  10. [tag]Georgia[/tag]
    Georgia
    LW: 9

    Georgia had a solid win against Tennessee but I am still not very impressed with this team. I expect them to lose 2 more games this season.

  11. [tag]BYU[/tag]
    BYU
    LW: 6

    I have decided to not leave BYU so high up in the polls. They play nobody, and until they beat Utah I will not move them any higher.

  12. [tag]LSU[/tag]
    LSU
    LW: 4

    You either smoke, or you get smoked, and LSU got smoked. That was a pretty weak performance against Florida, and if they don’t get someone to play quarterback they will struggle all season long.

  13. [tag]Kansas[/tag]
    Kansas
    LW: 12

    Kansas continues to plod along and will probably go relatively unnoticed the rest of the way unless they can beat one of the big teams in the Big 12. Don’t expect that to happen.

  14. [tag]Utah[/tag]
    Utah
    LW: 13

    Utah and BYU really don’t seem much different to me. They will have to prove their ranking by beating both TCU and BYU.

  15. [tag]Boise State[/tag]
    Boise State
    LW: 16

    Thank goodness we didn’t have to see them play on their ugly blue field this weekend.

  16. [tag]Ohio State[/tag]
    Ohio State
    LW: 17

    Luckily Ohio State beat Purdue because they are about to lose two in a row. I can’t wait to drop them out of the Top 25.

  17. [tag]Michigan State[/tag]
    Michigan State
    LW: 19

    Again, the only thing they have going for them is their running back, but man is he awesome. Can we trade for him?

  18. [tag]Virginia Tech[/tag]
    Virginia Tech
    LW: 18

    Does anyone really care about anyone in the ACC. They will probably all beat each other and end up with a conference champion that has 3 losses.

  19. [tag]South Florida[/tag]
    South Florida
    LW: 20

    Bye week

  20. [tag]North Carolina[/tag]
    North Carolina
    LW: 21

    It took a last minute play, but North Carolina thankfully kept Notre Dame out of the Top 25. North Carolina is making the most out of their spot, but see Virginia Tech.

  21. [tag]Wake Forest[/tag]
    Wake Forest
    LW: 22

    Another so-so ACC team barely holding on to their spot in the Top 25.

  22. [tag]California[/tag]
    California
    LW: 24

    Bye week

  23. [tag]TCU[/tag]
    TCU
    LW: –

    TCU has another huge game coming against BYU. Can they prove BYU is overrated, or will they fall back out of the Top 25?

  24. [tag]Vanderbilt[/tag]
    Vanderbilt
    LW: 14

    It was only a matter of time before Vanderbilt came back down to reality. They couldn’t handle the pressure of the being a top team and now they will probably struggle the rest of the way.

  25. [tag]Tulsa[/tag]
    Tulsa
    LW: 25

    They struggled a little only scoring 37, but I am sure they will get back on track and put up 60+ on UTEP.

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Posted October 7th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Football

Finally a week were pretty much all of the top teams went out and took care of business. There is a lot of shuffling around towards the bottom of the Top 25 as many teams have dropped out.

  1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]
    Oklahoma
    LW: 1

    Went out and took care of business and didn’t look ahead to playing Texas. I was actually somewhat surprised they only scored 49 points against Baylor.

  2. [tag]Missouri[/tag]
    Missouri
    LW: 3

    Missouri hadn’t won in Nebraska in 30 years. Apparently they were a little tired of losing there and put a whooping on the Cornhuskers. Pretty sure Bo Pelini is a little embarrassed after that one.

  3. [tag]Alabama[/tag]
    Alabama
    LW: 2

    Alabama actually showed some of their first signs of struggling, but they were still able to pull out the victory. Things will get a lot tougher for them as teams will be gunning to knock them off.

  4. [tag]LSU[/tag]
    LSU
    LW: 4

    Bye week

  5. [tag]Texas[/tag]
    Texas
    LW: 5

    I was actually a little nervous playing at Colorado, but thankfully Texas jumped out to the early lead and never looked back. Texas’ defense looked better than ever and might possibly be prepared for OU.

  6. [tag]BYU[/tag]
    BYU
    LW: 8

    Still feels weird to have BYU up here so high, but they have been absolutely killing teams lately. Because of their week schedule though, they probably won’t move much past this spot.

  7. [tag]Penn State[/tag]
    Penn State
    LW: 9

    Penn State continues to dominate in the weak Big 12, and will face their first tough test playing at Camp Randall against Wisconsin.

  8. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]
    Texas Tech
    LW: 10

    I actually thought Kansas State would give Tech a game, but Tech just scored at will. Graham Harrell threw for 450 yards and 6 touchdowns. Not a bad day.

  9. [tag]Georgia[/tag]
    Georgia
    LW: 12

  10. [tag]USC[/tag]
    USC
    LW: 11

    Starting off, USC looked like they might be losing another one to a team from the state of Oregon. But in the end they reeled off 40+ straight points and cruised to victory.

  11. [tag]Florida[/tag]
    Florida
    LW: 13

    Florida was lucky to have a bye week, oh wait, they did play Arkansas, which is just like having a bye week. Now they have to play LSU in a showdown in the SEC.

  12. [tag]Kansas[/tag]
    Kansas
    LW: 14

    Kansas struggled a little bit at Iowa State but were able to squeak out of there with a win. Todd Reesing is a seriously talented QB.

  13. [tag]Utah[/tag]
    Utah
    LW: 15

    Utah is quietly hanging around in the Top 15 and beating all the teams they should. I guess we will just have to wait until they play BYU.

  14. [tag]Vanderbilt[/tag]
    Vanderbilt
    LW: 16

    Vanderbilt continues to be the surprise of the SEC. They are actually leading the SEC East! I doubt this will last much longer.

  15. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]
    Oklahoma State
    LW: 17

    Hard to tell if Oklahoma State is really that good or if A&M is just that bad. It’s probably a little bit of both and I am really scared of playing this team later this month.

  16. [tag]Boise State[/tag]
    Boise State
    LW: 18

    I can’t stand to watch this team playing on that bright blue field, but they continue to win impressively and dominate their opponent. They have a legitimate shot at going undefeated this season.

  17. [tag]Ohio State[/tag]
    Ohio State
    LW: 19

    Ohio State pulled off an impressive win at Wisconsin proving the whole Big 10 is just a joke. Everyone pretty much just sucks equally.

  18. [tag]Virginia Tech[/tag]
    Virginia Tech
    LW: 21

    They don’t win big and they don’t win pretty. They somehow just manage to play just good enough to get the win. They will have to play better if they want to make it through the ACC schedule.

  19. [tag]Michigan State[/tag]
    Michigan State
    LW: –

    The only thing they have going for them is their running back, but man is he awesome. Can we trade for him?

  20. [tag]South Florida[/tag]
    South Florida
    LW: 6

    South Florida of course had to ruin their dream season and go lose to a crappy Pittsburgh team. Does anyone want to step up in the Big East?

  21. [tag]North Carolina[/tag]
    North Carolina
    LW: –

    Not sure the last time North Carolina was ranked in football, but it has to be a while. They have a solid team and have a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way.

  22. [tag]Wake Forest[/tag]
    Wake Forest
    LW: –

    Hmm…not really sure what to make of this team. Sometimes they look really good, and sometimes they look really awful. Week to week it is tough to tell which team will show up.

  23. [tag]Auburn[/tag]
    Auburn
    LW: 7

    Auburn losing to Vanderbilt? Who would have guessed that in the beginning of the season? Luckily for them they have a bye week next week, oh wait, they play Arkansas.

  24. [tag]California[/tag]
    California
    LW: –

    Doesn’t seem right to have a Pac-10 team in the Top 25 that’s not USC, but California is quietly putting together a nice season.

  25. [tag]Tulsa[/tag]
    Tulsa
    LW: –

    Tulsa seems to score 60 points every time they play, and that will usually get it done. They play SMU this week, which means they will probably score 80.

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Posted September 30th, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Football

Talk about a crazy weekend in college football. Three of the top four teams go down in upsets, with unbeatable #1 of all-time USC losing to an unranked Oregon State team.

  1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]
    Oklahoma

    The clear #1 in the nation after other teams in the Top 5 seemed scared to win. The Texas game in two weeks looks bigger than ever.

  2. [tag]Alabama[/tag]
    Alabama

    Maybe even more of a butt-kicking than the USC/Ohio State, Alabama got out to a 31-0 lead at Georgia. I think this was a combination of Alabama having a solid team and Georgia being ridiculously over-hyped.

  3. [tag]Missouri[/tag]
    Missouri

    Good time to have a bye week. Their schedule gets tough now as they open Big 12 play.

  4. [tag]LSU[/tag]
    LSU

    LSU didn’t look all that impressive in their win against Mississippi State. They will need to improve their quarterback play if they want to continue to win in the SEC.

  5. [tag]Texas[/tag]
    Texas

    Talk about slaughtering the pig against Arkansas. The Texas defense finally showed up and held them to only 3 points for most of the game.

  6. [tag]South Florida[/tag]
    South Florida

    The class of the Big East continues to look good. Now they start conference play, so we will see if they can keep it up.

  7. [tag]Auburn[/tag]
    Auburn

    They don’t win pretty, but their defense can keep them in any game. If they actually had a good quarterback they would probably be #2 in the nation.

  8. [tag]BYU[/tag]
    BYU

    BYU in the Top 10? Just doesn’t seem right somehow but they are playing great football right now. Two shutouts in a row will usually give a team some confidence.

  9. [tag]Penn State[/tag]
    Penn State

    I hesitate to put a Big 10 team so far up in the rankings because they will soon get smashed by some other crappy Big 10 team. Will this happen to Penn State? No doubt.

  10. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]
    Texas Tech

    Not sure what to say about Tech except that they probably won’t last much longer with no losses. In fact, they will probably lose to Kansas State.

  11. [tag]USC[/tag]
    USC

    On cue, USC has their one “bare-minimum” game of the season and somehow loses to Oregon State. Now they can cruise for the rest of the season with their easy Pac-10 schedule.

  12. [tag]Georgia[/tag]
    Georgia

    Not really surprised that they lost to Alabama, more surprised about how they lost. Down 31-0 at the half at home? I knew they were over-rated, just didn’t know it was that bad.

  13. [tag]Florida[/tag]
    Florida

    Rounding out the upsets this weekend is Florida. If Tim Tebow was an actual quarterback and could throw the ball, maybe they wouldn’t lose to a mediocre Ole Miss.

  14. [tag]Kansas[/tag]
    Kansas

    Bye week

  15. [tag]Utah[/tag]
    Utah

    Utah continues to sneak up the polls relatively quietly. Now they have to play the vaunted Oregon State Beavers.

  16. [tag]Vanderbilt[/tag]
    Vanderbilt

    With Georgia and Florida losing, Vanderbilt now leads the SEC East. If they beat Auburn this weekend is it time for them to start thinking national championship? Ha.

  17. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]
    Oklahoma State

    The Big 12 is absolutely stacked this year. Oklahoma State’s offense can hang with anyone. Too bad they play @Missouri, @Texas, and @Texas Tech.

  18. [tag]Boise State[/tag]
    Boise State

    Bye week

  19. [tag]Ohio State[/tag]
    Ohio State

    Not sure that a 13 point win over Minnesota is very impressive, but a win is a win. Terrelle Pryor looks like a legit college quarterback. I bet they are wishing he played more against USC.

  20. [tag]Oregon[/tag]
    Oregon

    Hard to get a read on just how good or bad the Pac-10 is. My guess is that Oregon will be dropping soon as they play USC this weekend.

  21. [tag]Virginia Tech[/tag]
    Virginia Tech

    Man, Virginia Tech has an incredibly weak schedule this season. If they didn’t lose to East Carolina they would easily be in the Top 10.

  22. [tag]Wisconsin[/tag]
    Wisconsin

    The Big 10 is just awful and I think Wisconsin proves that. Not sure how a Top 10 team loses to a horrible Michigan team. Oh yeah, it’s the crappy Big 10.

  23. [tag]Maryland[/tag]
    Maryland

    Maryland actually looks like they have a good team this year. The ACC is wide open right now and Maryland should be near the top at the end.

  24. [tag]Fresno State[/tag]
    Fresno State

    Pretty impressive win at UCLA.

  25. [tag]Connecticut[/tag]
    Connecticut

    Impresive win at Louisville. They will be tested in next two games of three straight road games. If they can make it through that, they will be looking good.

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