Top dawg returns — and they didn’t have to do much.
TEXAS, USA — Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Texas A&M was at the top of our rankings for a whole week before putting up a less-than-impressive performance against South Carolina, but we’ll get into that later.
Three members of WFAA’s digital team: Ryan Osborne, Paul Livengood and Zachary Yanes, put their heads together to rank each of the FBS programs in Texas ahead of Week 11.
No. 1 Texas Longhorns (7-1)
Paul Livengood: The Longhorns were idle and remained one of the top teams in the country after the release of the first College Football Playoff rankings. They’ve been my top team all year long and that has yet to change.
- Paul Livengood – 1
- Ryan Osborne – 1
- Zach Yanes – 1
No. 2 SMU Mustangs (8-1)
Ryan Osborne: The Ponies can’t seem to get much respect in the national rankings; blowing out an undefeated top-20 team in Pitt should have vaulted SMU higher. But alas, they’ll need to keep proving themselves and winning, to make the ACC Championship Game. Honestly, an ideal finish for SMU might be an 11-1 regular season and NOT making the ACC title game (losing a tiebreaker to Clemson and Miami). That could be just good enough to sneak into the playoff, a monumental accomplishment for the program.
- Paul Livengood – 2
- Ryan Osborne – 2
- Zach Yanes – 2
No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies (7-2)
Zachary Yanes: The pressure of a great season seemed to be too much for the Aggies to bear, so they decided to lose to South Carolina. Now look, the Gamecocks aren’t a terrible team but for the Aggies to allow 44 points is crazy. That was a complete meltdown and kind of sad to watch.
- Paul Livengood – 3
- Ryan Osborne – 3
- Zach Yanes – 3
No. 4 Baylor Bears (5-4)
Paul Livengood: Baylor continues to shake up the rankings. A 37-34 win over rival TCU makes it three in a row. Can the Bears get hot down the stretch?
- Paul Livengood – 4
- Ryan Osborne – 4
- Zach Yanes – 4
No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs (5-4)
Ryan Osborne: The Frogs are incredibly frustrating right now. They have the skill position players to compete with any team in the Big 12; perhaps only Colorado has a better collection of speed and talent. But TCU hardly has any discipline, few interior difference makers and a coach who has let the program drift in the wind these last two seasons.
- Paul Livengood – 6
- Ryan Osborne – 5
- Zach Yanes – 5
No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-3)
Zachary Yanes: The Red Raiders are a pretty confusing team. Lose back-to-back games against inferior opponents in TCU and Baylor, only to go into Ames, Iowa, and upset the No. 11 team in the country. This is why we love college football.
- Paul Livengood – 5
- Ryan Osborne – 6
- Zach Yanes – 6
No. 7 Sam Houston Bearkats (7-2)
Paul Livengood: The Bearkats are only this high up the list due to their record. They may be 7-2, but they haven’t played the same quality opponents as those listed higher on here. Have fun going bowling, though!
- Paul Livengood – 7
- Ryan Osborne – 8
- Zach Yanes – 7
No. 8 Houston Cougars (4-5)
Ryan Osborne: Willie Fritz is the Big 12 coach of the year if he can get Houston to a bowl game. Seriously. Pretty much started from scratch with a gutted roster and now the Cougars have won three of their last four. At 4-5, they face a bad Arizona team before closing out the year against Baylor and BYU.
- Paul Livengood – 8
- Ryan Osborne – 7
- Zach Yanes – 8
No. 9 Texas State Bobcats (4-4)
Paul Livengood: The Bobcats were idle and boy did we need it. It’s disappointing to be 4-4 at this point in the season, especially when the losses have been by such small margins. But you are what your record says you are. I’ll be happy if Texas State becomes bowl-eligible for the second consecutive season.
- Paul Livengood – 9
- Ryan Osborne – 9
- Zach Yanes – 10
No. 10 North Texas Mean Green (5-3)
Zachary Yanes: The Mean Green had a bye week after a close loss to Tulane. Next up, they face an undefeated No. 18 Army.
- Paul Livengood – 10
- Ryan Osborne – 10
- Zach Yanes – 9
No. 11 Rice Owls (3-6)
Ryan Osborne: The Owls played the role of spoiler with a win over a one-loss Navy. Truly a shocker.
- Paul Livengood – 11
- Ryan Osborne – 11
- Zach Yanes – 12
No. 12 UTSA Roadrunners (4-5)
Zachary Yanes: I think the Roadrunners heard me yapping. Yes, I write this portion of the article every week with a lot of disdain — but I will choose to be more positive because what the actual heck happened this weekend. UTSA, who has three total wins on the season, decided they wanted to show up against Memphis, who had just one loss. A truly dominant offensive performance was put on display for all ESPN2 viewers to see — and it was glorious. Can the Roadrunners become bowl-eligible? I’m starting to think they can.
- Paul Livengood – 12
- Ryan Osborne – 12
- Zach Yanes – 11
No. 13 UTEP Miners (1-8)
Ryan Osborne: The Miners (1-7) host Kennesaw State (1-8). A win is imminent — but don’t ask me to predict who gets it.
- Paul Livengood – 13
- Ryan Osborne – 13
- Zach Yanes – 13