Editor’s Note: Every week, The Prospectors’ own Jason Green will rank all 12 Division I college football teams in the Lone Star State. The Texas 12 power rankings are based on the results from the past week of games, along with the strength of wins and losses, according to Jason.
While other Texas teams who once looked to be powerhouses – talking to you Longhorns – have fallen completely off the rails, the Aggies just keep rolling along in the SEC. Have all of the wins been pretty? Not necessarily but, they don’t have to be when you’re in the Texas 12 with the likes of the Longhorns, Horned Frogs, and Red Raiders. The only real competition is coming from the Baylor Bears and I’m still having trouble believing that they’re for real for some reason.
12 – RICE OWLS (0-5) C-USA
Last Week: Bye Week
This just in: Bye Week has beaten the Rice Owls by a final of 32-14.
This Saturday: UTSA (2-3) 5 p.m. MT
11 – UTEP MINERS (1-5) C-USA
Last Week: Lost to Florida International 35-21
Good News: The Miners have a Bye Week upcoming. Bad News: They will probably lose to it worse than Rice did.
This Saturday: Bye Week
10 – TEXAS STATE BOBCATS (2-3) SUN BELT
Last Week: Lost to Georgia State 41-21
Perhaps I had been giving the Bobcats a little too much credit for their early season triple-overtime win over the Ohio Bobcats and keeping them a little too high in the rankings. Last weekend’s loss to the previously winless Panthers was an absolute nightmare for the Bobcats who did everything possible to not win, while the Panthers tried to give them the game for the entire second half. After reeling off 34 unanswered points to make it 34-14 in the third quarter, the Panthers turned the ball over on three times in the Texas State half of the field, which the Bobcats wanted no part of – clearly bound and determined to help their fellow felines win their first game in five attempts this season.
This Saturday: at Louisiana-Monroe (1-4) 5 p.m. MT
9 –SMU MUSTANGS (2-4) AAC
Last Week: Lost to Tulsa 43-40
If you don’t like defense in your football, Texas is probably the place for you with Texas Tech, TCU, heck… even UTEP these days! Well, add SMU to that list. This game was back and forth from the outset and ended up going to overtime, where all of a sudden Tulsa’s defense showed up and played defense. The Mustangs settled for a field goal and it only took one play from the former C-USA member team to knock off the Mustangs with a quarterback run. But, the Mustangs did play a 4-1 team very close and have two wins under their belts so, let’s put them near the top of the two win teams!
This Saturday: Bye Week
8 – UTSA ROADRUNNERS (2-3) C-USA
Last Week: Won against Southern Miss 55-32
Well, this came out of nowhere. I’m not really too sure what to make out of this upset victory that saw the Roadrunners pile up a school-record 339 rushing yards and four of the 13 longest plays in school history. UTSA had two running backs with 100-yard games while moving to the top of the two-win teams in Texas. This being a UTEP website, I would also like to mention here that UTEP scored seven points against Southern Miss, who held Aaron Jones to 127 yards rushing.
This Saturday: at Rice (0-5) 5 p.m. MT
7 – NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN (3-3) C-USA
Last Week: Won against Marshall 38-21
This cannot be the same UNT team that finished 1-11 last season. For that matter, this cannot be the same Marshall team that is a perennial power in C-USA. I’m really not sure where the Mean Green is even getting it done, as they rank in the middle of the pack in almost every statistical category. They do have the top punter in C-USA in Eric Keena. Keena is currently averaging 45.3 yards per punt with a season long of 68 yards. Maybe that’s where the secret lies.
This Saturday: Bye Week
6 – TEXAS LONGHORNS (2-3) BIG-12
Last Week: Lost to Oklahoma 45-40
I thought we were out of two-win teams. Oops. Maybe I am counting Texas’s two wins against Notre Dame and *gasp* UTEP for too much but, their three losses are still against very stiff competition. Against Cal and Oklahoma, the Longhorns were actually in the game and just this past weekend the team from Austin just barely lost to the rival Sooners for the first time under Charlie Strong. Call me crazy but, I have no doubt that Texas will still end up bowl eligible and save Strong’s job yet again.
This Weekend: Iowa State (1-5) 5 p.m. MT
5 – TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (3-2) BIG-12
Last Week: Lost to Kansas State 44-38
The lack of defense continues to kill Kingsbury’s team. This game wasn’t really even as close as the score makes it look as the Red Raiders’ last touchdown was really just a face-saver. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes now has 2,274 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. The website coacheshotseat.com currently has Kliff Kingsbury at No. 21 on their list of coach’s likely to be fired. In case you were wondering, as of press time, Sean Kugler was No. 16.
This Weekend: No. 20 West Virginia (4-0) 10 a.m. MT
4 – HOUSTON COUGARS (5-1) AAC
Last Week: Lost to Navy 46-40
The biggest problem with playing in the AAC and trying to make it to the CFB Playoff is that there is no room for a slip-up. It’s the same with the Texas 12, unfortunately. The Cougs slipped up big time last Saturday. Not taking anything away from Navy but, everybody knows what a service academy brings to the table – under-sized players who need trick plays to keep up with your typical FBS team. The Cougars turned the ball over like it was their job on Saturday and this is the one that opened the door for all of the naysayers to drop them from their polls. Lucky for Houston, the rest of Texas is pretty bad this year so, they won’t go too far down in this poll.
This Saturday: Tulsa (4-1) 5 p.m. MT
3 – TCU HORNED FROGS (4-2) BIG-12
Last Week: Won against Kansas 24-23
If there’s such a thing as an impressive loss, the Horned Frogs have two of them. Losing to Arkansas, who has been impressive all season, in double-overtime is definitely nothing to be ashamed of. Most recently, TCU lost to Oklahoma by less than a touchdown. if it weren’t for two undefeated teams, the Horned Frogs could be at the top of the Texas 12. Quarterback Kenny Hill still ranks third in FBS in passing yards with 2,142 yards.
This Saturday: Bye Week
2 – BAYLOR BEARS (5-0) BIG-12
Last Week: Bye Week
Top 3 Coolest Names on Baylor’s Roster:
- Lynx Hawthorne (WR)
- Pooh Stricklin (WR)
- Thor Rodoni (LS)
This Saturday: Kansas (1-4) 1:30 p.m. MT
1 – TEXAS A&M AGGIES (6-0) SEC
Last Week: Won against No. 9 Tennessee 45-38 (2OT)
Quick, name one player for A&M. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. This team seems to be made up of so many really good players without one really big superstar or Heisman candidate, maybe they really are legit. Trevor Knight is a very capable quarterback but has nine touchdowns to five interceptions. Running back Trayveon Williams has 704 yards. Not as many as Aaron Jones. The team is really just scrappy – which may be just what it takes to win the SEC-West. The real test comes after this week’s bye, in No. 1 Alabama.
This Saturday: Bye Week
