SAN ANTONIO — We’re 13 weeks through the college football season and the plan to somehow still get Alabama (24-3 loss at Oklahoma last weekend) into the College Football Playoff is in full effect!
That’s a joke. Isn’t it?
But enough about that chaos, Let’s review what happened on the gridiron around the great State of Texas!
UTSA
Sometimes, three-game homestands come at just the right time.
The Roadrunners are 6-5 and bowl-eligible for a fifth straight year after beating up Temple, 51-27, on Friday night inside the Alamodome. There was never any stress about winning or losing against the Owls; this is Temple, a basketball school.
UTSA Head coach Jeff Traylor said his team was "literally in the pits of hell" after the worst loss in program history at Tulsa on the last Saturday in October. But they’ve run off three straight since then, collecting wins over Memphis, North Texas and Temple.
They now close the season Saturday at Army. The weather forecast looks decent for that part of the country, with a high around 40 degrees and lows in the high 20s. Kickoff is 11 a.m., so we’d have to guess it will be on the cool side for morning warmups and the first half of the game.
My real worry is not winning, finishing 6-6 and giving bowl committees an opportunity to look past them. These days, being qualified doesn’t necessarily mean being confirmed. The Black Knights are only touchdown favorites as of the writing of this writing. It will be interesting to see how the line moves throughout the week. #BirdsUp
Texas / Texas A&M
IT! IS! BACK!
I can finally stop complaining that it went away in the first place. The most important college football game in Texas is back on the map! Texas! Texas A&M! Let’s GOOO! Saturday night in College Station is gonna be football bananas!
Texas did their part by handling Kentucky 31-14 to improve to 10-1. The Aggies on the other hand... whoops. Cue the disaster movie music after they stumbled at Auburn, 43-41.
So is this weekend now A&M’s Super Bowl? There’s no doubt about that. This is bigger than any bowl game can ever get. Texas A&M has always thought they play second fiddle to the Longhorns. They can’t stand that. It draws their ire like nothing else can. Trash talk for one full calendar year is on the line, and they’d love to have nothing more than just that.
The competition is gonna be intense, and throw the numbers out the window. This is Texas. This game means everything. It was important for the state in the past, and thank goodness it has returned, because it is going to be that again. And what's on the line for Texas? Oh nothing, just sowing up their spot in the top twelve. And what a game to have to try and ensure that happens.
This is gonna be something! I’ll be watching, and I bet you will be too. #HookEm #GigEm
Incarnate Word
I’m bumping them up high this week! Southland Conference Champs, and outright!
The Cards finished 10-2 for the regular season and earned the No. 6 seed for the upcoming FCS Playoffs. I was in the room watching the Sunday selection show and the reaction was awesome.
They get the first-round bye and await the winner of Villanova and Eastern Kentucky for their second-round game that will be played in San Antonio at Benson Stadium on Dec. 7. This is the highest postseason seed in that program’s young history, and it's well-deserved after not getting an invite in their 9-2 campaign last year.
It’s gonna be hard to win the national championship if we’re being honest; those Pacific Northwest teams like Montana State, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State are tough outs. That’s what they do at that level in that part of the country: win national championships. But UIW is in the tourney, and that’s half the battle! They have an opportunity to make some noise and make the push. #TheWord
Texas Tech
It was another defense-not-required matchup for the Red Raiders, and for Oklahoma State for that matter.
TTU hung on in Stillwater, winning 56-48 and improving to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in Big12 Play. Bowl projections have Tech from the Holiday Bowl to the Independence Bowl to the Rate Bowl (whatever that is) and so on and so on. Texas Tech closes regular-season play at home with West Virginia this weekend; getting to eight wins would certainly improve their bowl prospects.
Head coach Joey McGuire has said he wants the road to the Big 12. It didn’t happen this season, but in the world of NIL and the transfer portal all things are possible. And it helps that Texas and Oklahoma are now in the SEC. #WreckEm
SMU
That infamous financial scandal, which is now legal by the way, is in the rear-view mirror like never before. The Ponies are 10-1 and in first place in the AAC after whacking UVA over the weekend. Rhett Lashlee just might be the hottest in college football right now. And assuming they handle business over Cal this weekend and in the AAC Championship Game that would follow (they’ve already clinched their spot), still two hurdles to execute, you can book the Mustangs for the CFP.
How about that, huh? A program that was once given the NCAA death penalty is gonna have an opportunity to play for the national title. Not all bad! I’m rooting for them. What a great story. #PonyExpress
Other observations
The Baylor Bears have almost run the table... well, since their seventh game anyway. They’ve run off five straight wins and can close the regular season with six straight if they can somehow beat the surging Kansas Jayhawks.
And TCU can finish with five out of six wins by taking care of Cincinnati at their place. The Frogs started 3-3 but found last season groove's, with an opportunity as well to win eight and improve their bowl invite possibilities.
And Texas State? Oh man. Don’t ask. They lost at home, in November, to a two-win team. Not good. Georgia State bounced the Bobcats in San Marcos, 52-44, dropping to 6-5 overall. They are bowl-eligible, but can feel much better about it and getting their seventh regular season win by winning at South Alabama on Friday. Easier said than done... the Jags are 6-5 too.
Looking forward to what shakes out in Week 14!
