"Football is to Texas what religion is to a priest."
Probably one of the truest statements ever spoken by the late, great Tom Landry. The state of Texas is the absolutely definition of, sorry for the cliche, America's Holy Land of football. There are certainly other states that produce elite talent on the gridiron and elite passion in the stands, such as Alabama, California, Florida, etc. But nobody does it quite like Texas.
For quite some time, the Texas Longhorns absolutely dominated the Texas football landscape. The program boasts four National Championships (1963, 1969, 1970, 2005), 32 conference titles, two Heisman Trophy winners (Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams), along with 56 consensus All-Americans. It should come as no surprise that the Longhorns were the most attractive choice for phenomenal high school players to represent their home state at the next level.
In 2016, more than ever, the variety of quality college football in Texas is quite vast. In the preseason coaches poll, which honestly means absolutely nothing, three Texas schools landed spots in the top 25. The Houston Cougars sit at No. 13, TCU at No. 14, and Baylor at No. 21. Although they do not appear in the top 25, the Longhorns still earned 34 votes while Texas A&M received 37 votes. Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech are nowhere to be found within the preseason hype, which is completely deserving.
So with numerous options for the Lone Star State's best players to go to, which Texas-based college football program will claim the throne as the state's best team in 2016? Let's take a look:
Houston Cougars
The University of Houston certainly has the most intriguing team in Texas for the upcoming season, as expectations are obviously high with the Cougars coming in at No. 13 in the preseason polls. In 2015 Houston greatly impressed by finishing with a 13-1 record, which was capped off by a 38-24 win over Florida State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. The Cougars lone loss was to an inferior UConn team, a game in which the Huskies defense surprisingly held Houston to only 17 points and 318 yards. However, Houston clearly bounced back from an uncharacteristic underperformance by beating three straight ranked opponents: No. 15 Navy, No. 22 Temple, and No. 9 Florida State.
I wouldn't expect Houston to be a one hit wonder, as their Commander in Chief Tom Herman has the necessary experience to keep moving this program forward. Herman spent time as Iowa State's offensive coordinator from 2009-2011 before upgrading as Ohio State's offensive coordinator from 2012-2014. 2016 will be a huge test for Herman's consistency in achieving success in only his second year as head coach for the Cougars.
Houston serves as somewhat of an outlier in the Texas college football family for two reasons: they don't have as much of a padded resume as their in-state competition, and they do not compete in the Big 12 like Baylor, TCU, and the Longhorns. The Cougars play in the American Athletic Conference, which to be honest, had a much better overall season than many expected. The AAC's success on a national level was refreshing for those who enjoy inconsistency in the College Football Playoff picture. Both Houston and Navy finished within the top 25 for 2015's final rankings (No. 8 and No. 18), while Temple had a good run in being ranked No. 24 before dropping a 32-17 bowl loss to Toledo. Even Memphis had a solid season, highlighted by a 37-24 upset over Ole Miss, before being chewed up by conference opponents Navy, Temple, and Houston.
Essentially what I'm getting at is the AAC is not as garbage as many may think. The rising stock of the conference will assists Houston's campaign to be a national contender, and it will certainly be an easier road for the Cougars than if they played in a more prestigious conference like one of the Power 5s. But in order to earn national praise, Houston will have to prove themselves in week one when they host the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners.
Houston's season will really be in the hands of senior quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who absolutely tore it up through the air and on the ground in 2015. The dual-threat QB threw for 2,828 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns. Holy smokes. Talk about video game numbers. The Cougars are here to disrupt the Texas football scene like never before, and it'd be fascinating to watch them pull it off.
TCU Horned Frogs
Right behind Houston in the polls is No. 14 TCU, who would be the everlasting King of Texas if the criteria relied simply on mascots. The Horned Frogs finished last year at the No. 7 spot with a record of 11-2 and a victory in the triple overtime thriller of a Valero Alamo Bowl over the Oregon Ducks, 47-41. TCU's only two losses came during crunch time of in-conference play, falling short to Oklahoma State and the eventual Big 12 "Champions" Oklahoma.
It will be interesting to see how TCU's high powered offense adjusts in 2016 without their star quarterback Trevone Boykin, who had plenty of pre-injury Heisman buzz in 2015. Boykin totaled 3,575 yards and 31 touchdowns through the air and ran for a total of 612 yards and 9 touchdowns. Stepping in for Boykin under center will most likely be Texas A&M transfer Kenny "Trill" Hill. As a sophomore in 2014, Trill got off to an incredibly hot start in an attempt to fill the shoes of Johnny Football as College Station's superstar QB. In the Aggies' 2014 season opener against South Carolina, Trill caught the attention of many by breaking a school record of 511 passing yards, topped off by three touchdowns. He recorded a total of 2,649 yards and 23 touchdowns that season. I think Kenny Hill will be a solid replacement for Boykin because he is extremely athletic, which is a great fit for TCU's high speed offense.
Playing in the Big 12 entails facing off against dynamic offenses that know how to put points on the board. Many Big 12 matchups leave people wondering if the Big 12 even bothers recruiting defensive players. Well in the case of the 2016 Horned Frogs, there should be some defensive excitement; the TCU defense will be led by a 6'4", 250 pound defensive end by the name of Josh Carraway. Carraway had a stellar 2015 season, getting in on 46 total tackles (24 solo, 22 assisted), 8 sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Carraway's biggest challenge this season will be containing and pressuring Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield.
TCU's quest for the Texas Throne includes battling against in-conference and in-state opponents Baylor and Texas, along with in-conference games against No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 19 Oklahoma State. I think the Horned Frogs will go either 2-2 or 3-1 in their four most significant games, with no doubt in my mind they will lose to Oklahoma. TCU just hasn't proven to me that they can step up when it matters in the regular season, so I don't expect them to be crowned Big 12 "Champs."
Baylor Bears
With plenty of non-football related news surrounding the preseason No. 21 Baylor Bears, maintaining focus on the field could be a major problem for the coaches and players. Not only have there been numerous allegations of sexual assault against Baylor players, but the coaches and administration have done a terrible job in going about the process. Not that any of that is related to the actual talent of this team, but there will be an array of distractions and much warranted disdain involved with the Bears this season. Oh yeah, maybe it is majorly related to on-field performance as former Ohio University coach Jim Grobe will take over as the interim head coach. Grobe has proven himself as a good football coach, but it's undoubtedly difficult for the players to adapt to a new leader. Welcome to the big show, Coach Grobe. Let's see what you've got.
Baylor finished the 2015 season with a record of 10-3, losing to Oklahoma, TCU, and Texas. Baylor was a bit iffy in their biggest games last year, although they did show up in the Russell Athletic Bowl, topping No. 10 UNC 49-38. To say the Bears had health problems at the quarterback position would be quite the understatement; four different quarterbacks took snaps throughout the season thanks to starter Seth Russell suffering a neck injury against Iowa State.
But the good news for Baylor is that Seth Russell will be back in action. Through only seven games in 2015, Russell completed 59.5% of his passes for 2,104 yards and 29 touchdowns. That's simply spectacular. The Bear's QB1 also rushed for a total of 402 yards and six touchdowns in those seven games.
Even through the plethora of injuries that Baylor had to overcome, they still had the best offense in the country, finishing at the top spot for points per game, total points, yards per game, and total yards. The Bears' running game should continue to put up impressive numbers this season, featuring senior running back Shock Linwood (1,329 yards and 10 touchdowns) and junior running back Johnny Jefferson (1,000 yards and 8 touchdowns) who sounds like a made up character in Backyard Football.
Talent? Check. Returning key players? Check. Off the field controversy and distractions? Check. New coach? Check. This combination of factors should make for an interesting Baylor season. I see them losing a few in-conference games, but if they can come out on top in a few of those, their 2016 resume won't gain any help due to a pathetic non-conference schedule (Northwestern State, SMU, Rice). Scheduling a cowardly non-conference schedule is just another reason to dislike Baylor this season. To put it simply, this team does not deserve the Texas Crown.
Texas A&M Aggies
Although Texas A&M did not land a spot in the preseason top 25, they did receive 37 votes from coaches. The Aggies finished last season with a record of 8-5, as things continue to go downhill since the departure of campus legend Money Manziel. Speaking of A&M quarterbacks, things have not been going well with numerous significant transfers at the position. First, they suffered the aforementioned transfer of Kenny Hill. Then in December of last year, sophomore Kyle Allen decided to transfer to play for Houston due to a supposedly undisciplined culture at A&M (wow, total shocker). And lastly, sophomore Kyler Murray transferred to play for the Oklahoma Sooners. So who does that leave to lead the Aggies offense this year? Remember Trevor Knight, the guy who lost his job to Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma? We'll be seeing him under center in an Aggie uniform this year in an attempt to put an end to all of this A&M quarterback drama.
Trevor Knight is a great replacement because he has three (not quite full) seasons under his belt, and the redshirt senior is probably pretty damn determined to prove himself as a legitimate player after losing his starting job at Oklahoma. Just because he's a great Plan B (or D), however, doesn't necessarily mean he can return the Aggies to their recent glory. If we're being honest, I don't think Kevin Sumlin is a good coach. Sure, he's had some recent success and won some big games for the 12th Man, but we can't just give all of the credit to Coach Sumlin. He had an absolute blessing in the Johnny Manziel to Mike Evans combo. Manziel's big time plays didn't come from Sumlin preparing him, they came from Manziel making something out of mass hysteria. That's what made Manziel special yet so underachieving at the next level: his style of football could not be coached. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sumlin get the boot from College Station in the near future.
In regards to the Aggies' defense, all eyes will be on Myles Garrett, the 6-5 262 pound junior defensive end. Garrett has gotten reps in every game except one since his freshman season in 2014, and my oh my are his numbers racked up. Over the course of his first two seasons at A&M, Myles Garrett has made 103 tackles (59 solo, 44 assisted) and 26 sacks.
Look, I'm not saying the Aggies don't have talent. I'm not completely writing them off as a football team. But after the season ends, there's just no way that Texas A&M will be viewed as the best team in Texas. Since they don't play any of the other Texas contenders, they'd have to gain more national praise with the lack of head-to-head play as a definitive comparison. And *spoiler alert* Texas A&M will have great difficulty with their stacked schedule. Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and UCLA. Good luck with that.
Texas Longhorns
First and foremost, say what you want about Charlie Strong as a football coach, but as a human being that guy weirds me out. I'm not saying he's a bad person, but I feel like grabbing a beer with him wouldn't be a good time at all. I do respect his button game though, All The Way Up Chuck.
If we're being completely honest, the only reason the Texas Longhorns are in this discussion is because, well, they're the Texas Longhorns. But we've got to face the facts here. Time for me to channel my inner Trent Dilfer; let's face it...they're not good anymore. Charlie Strong had high hopes of bringing this program back, and he definitely has more of a chance now that his recruits will be the ones on the field, but I just don't see him accomplishing his mission. Texas finished below .500 in both of Strong's seasons so far. The window for coaches at a program as notorious as Texas can close really fast if they don't succeed right away. Longhorn boosters and fans have zero interest in "rebuilding years." They want winning seasons immediately, and it won't be easy for Charlie Strong to bring the Longhorns to the top with a schedule that includes Notre Dame along with the Big 12 contenders Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, and TCU. They may end that sub .500 slump this year, but I'm thinking that might be all they're capable of.
When it comes time for post-football season stress disorder to kick in, I honestly believe we'll look back at that Houston Cougars as the best college team in Texas. I don't think the Cougars will pull off the week 1 upset over Oklahoma, but I also don't think anyone on this list will beat Oklahoma (A&M the only team to not face the Sooners). The Cougars will drop that first game, but then will roll over the opposition all the way through bowl season where they will have a win over a good team, much like last year.
I think the Big 12 Texas teams (mainly TCU and Baylor) will have success this season, but much like last season, we'll see the Big 12 chew itself up by beating each other in the late weeks of the regular season. I think Oklahoma will win the Big 12, so Baylor and TCU could still have shots at playing solid teams in solid bowl games. If they do indeed win those "solid" bowl games, it would be a great resume but Houston will have a legitimate bowl win and a conference championship under their belt. Charlie Strong will get the boot from Austin in the near future and Houston coach Tom Herman will get the job, returning the Burnt Orange to their glory years, bringing this blog full circle.
Who do you think will be the best team in Texas? Follow me @CalebBlackmur on Twitter and let's talk some pigskin.
great goddam read
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