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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The Texas Longhorns are the number 1 team in the land this week after all. The football team came up short, but thanks to a [tag]Kansas[/tag] upset loss the men’s basketball team is now the top ranked team in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. This is the first time in Texas history to hold the number 1 ranking.

Head coach [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] felt the ranking was a compliment to the program and all the effort each of the players puts in every week. Of course, unlike football college basketball has a playoff and as Barnes put it, “I can’t honestly tell you who the No. 1 team was in the country on the second week of January last year, but I do know who won the national championship.”

Here’s this week’s top 5 college basketball teams:

  AP Poll   Coaches Poll
1 Texas (56)   Texas (30)
2 Kentucky (9)   Kentucky (1)
3 Kansas   Kansas
4 Villanova   Villanova
5 Syracuse   Syracuse
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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 19th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Football

A lot of consternation amongst Texas fans but the Horns have debuted at number 3 in the BCS rankings. Not much reason to worry, with #1 Florida and #2 Alabama set to face off later in the year all Texas has to do is win out and they’ll end up in the BCS title game.

Link: Florida No. 1 in first BCS standings
Video: Brad Edwards’ BCS take

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It seems a consensus has developed in national preseason rankings. The top of every list has the Florida Gators number one, followed by the Texas Longhorns and then Oklahoma Sooners. The website Over the Pylon slots the Horns in at number two again and has written good previews on all the top 25 teams. From the Texas preview:

For the Longhorns, their season will come down to one game. 60 minutes on October 17th determine their standing within the college football landscape and their ability to control their own destiny in terms of the Big 12. Expect a contest that is truly worthy of the superlatives it will receive both before and after, and expect a close and exciting Longhorn win. The Longhorns make up half of our national title picture, as they finish the regular season 12-0, win the Big 12 title, and try their best to right the wrongs from 2008.

Check out their full Texas preview now and the entire OTP top 25.

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The first official college football poll of the 2009 season is out and the Longhorns are sitting at a great position debuting at number 2. They sit between the reigning champs #1 Florida Gators and the hated #3 Oklahoma Sooners in the top 5. This preseason spot puts a lot of expectations on the team but also leaves it where an undefeated season (even with a weak non-conference schedule) will guarantee the Horns a shot at the national championship.

Coaches’ preseason poll top 5

  1. Florida
  2. Texas
  3. Oklahoma
  4. USC
  5. Alabama

View the full top 25 preseason rankings.

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ESPN is ranking the top players in the Big 12 in their conference blog and they recently placed Texas wide receiver [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] the 18th best player in the conference. Here’s their thoughts on Shipley:

Why he was picked: After struggling with injuries most of his career, Shipley blossomed as the Longhorns’ leader in all-purpose yards last season, producing 119.2 yards per game. Shipley snagged 89 receptions for 1,060 yards and a team-leading 11 touchdown receptions. He also made history as the first player in school history to score touchdowns by reception, kickoff return and punt return in the same season. But he is most widely known for his season-saving 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Oklahoma, which turned momentum around after the Sooners had jumped to a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter. Shipley is one of the most versatile members on his team as a kickoff and punt returner and a holder on all of Texas’ placements.

What 2009 will hold: If Shipley can recover from his shoulder surgery, he could develop into one of the nation’s biggest receiving weapons. It will be up to him to emerge as Colt McCoy’s prime target this season after sharing the role with Quan Cosby last season. If McCoy and the Longhorns are as prolific passing as last season, it’s not out of the question that Shipley could potentially catch 100 or more balls. That kind of season would be pivotal in the Longhorns’ hopes at making their first Big 12 championship game appearance since 2005. And it would also cement Shipley’s place among the top receivers in the school’s history.

Other Longhorns

#27 – Adam Ulatoski
#32 – Earl Thomas
#37 – Chris Hall

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ESPN’s Big 12 blog is ranking the top 40 players in the conference and so far they’ve named three Longhorns between 27 and 40. The latest is tackle [tag]Adam Ulatoski[/tag] at number 27, here’s the write-up:

Why he was picked: Over his career, Ulatoski has become one of the most productive linemen in the Big 12. He’s started 30 games at Texas, with the first 16 in his career at right tackle before moving to left tackle before the Longhorns’ Holiday Bowl victory over Arizona State in 2007. He’s been the most productive lineman on Texas’ team the last two years.

We’ll keep track of the list and let you know where other Longhorns fall.

Other Longhorns

#32 – Earl Thomas
#37 – Chris Hall

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Posted November 29th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

Remember 45-35

Texas and Oklahoma already settled it on the field

Now that the Longhorns took care of business on the field against the Aggies it’s time to join the 40,000 strong movement…

Better Consider the Scoreboard

We’ve somehow come to a time when head to head no longer matters…

It’s constantly suggested that College Football is a playoff and that things should be decided on the field. Well, on October 11, 2008 that happened. Texas beat Oklahoma head to head on a neutral field.

The goal of this site is simple, remind people that the game was played and we got a winner. In a situation where you must decide between two teams, shouldn’t you take the one that won the game?

Support the Cause

Other Links

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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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