While I don’t claim to possess a crystal ball and actually know what’s going to happen in the upcoming college football season, I do have a gut sense that there will be some teams who will rise to the occasion and some other programs who are going to hit a make-or-break year. New head coaches are going to have a lot to prove to fan and alumni bases while some other head coaches are already feeling some heat beneath their office chairs.
How do I rank some of the FBS programs in Texas this season?
- Houston: The Cougars look to dominate the AAC and make a repeat visit to the conference championshp game. Dana Holgorsen has something going on with this program and I expect them to be a Top Ten program in 2022. Offensive powerhouses Clayton Tune, Nathaniel Dell and Alton McCaskill are all coming back and all three should help the Cougars stake their claim to a CFP playoff spot come December.
- Baylor: Dave Aranda is one of the great up-and-coming head coaches in FBS and the Bears look to make another run at a Big 12 title. The big question going into spring football is who will be the QB will replace the lost RB’s? Baylor has reputedly one of the best O lines in college football and when you have the people movers up front, offenses generally can do what they want to opponents.
Texas A&M: Well, Jimbo Fisher better have a great season in 2022 or the Aggie faithful will start really grumbling. Bowing out of a bowl game probably didn’t sit well with a lot of A&M fans and the alumni base which prides itself on the “12th Man” tradition. So much for that tradition which is one of the oldest in college football. The Aggies should be stacked and ready to move into ontention for a CFP spot and their 2022 recruiting success will only add fuel to the fire but remember, sometimes you can get burned by fire too. Fisher needs to shore up his QB position before any real talk about a Top Ten spot for Texas A&M.
Texas: Why do I have the Longhorns ranked so high? Well, to be perfectly honest, Steve Sarkisian needs the Burnt Orange Nation ranked as one or two in Texas this season or his rear end will get scorched from the flaming-hot chair he sits in every day in his campus office in Austin. The QB scenario with Quinn Ewers, Hudson Card and Maliik Murphy wil no doubt fan the flames around expectations this season and if one of these players emerges as a true leader, who know how far the Longhorns can go. For Sarkisian’s sake, Texas needs to have a winning season and a bowl bid at a minimum to start erasing the stain of the 2021 season (it will take a REALLY long time to forget about an OT loss to Kansas…..)
Tie – TCU and Texas Tech: New head coaches, both former high school coaches who are well known in Texas football will have the opportunity to re-vamp their respective programs. Sonny Dykes left SMU and went across the Metroplex to Fort Worth and TCU. He will have his work cut out for him but if he can build up a run offense, TCU should be able to bounce back and look for a bowl bid in 2022. For Texas Tech, Joey McGuire needs to keep up the momentum that has build after Tech beat Mississippi State and former coach Mike Leach in the Liberty Bowl. If the Red Raiders can build on that success, then they too should be looking for another bowl bid this upcoming season.
