Despite not looking their greatest this season, the Texas Longhorns have pulled off three consecutive victories against Baylor, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia.
Head coach Tom Herman has been able to turn the season around after starting 0-2 in conference play.
While a Big 12 championship appearance is still not out of the question, Texas still has two difficult matchups in Iowa State and Kansas State after facing Kansas in two weeks. Because of this, ESPN’s bowl projections still do not have the Longhorns in a top tier bowl game.
Instead, ESPN projects Texas will finally get their rematch against the LSU Tigers in the Texas Bowl. The Tigers beat the Longhorns in Austin 45-38 in one of the games of the seasons in 2019. The two teams were scheduled to face each other in Sept. at LSU, but COVID-19 had other ideas.
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The Tigers have had a rough beginning to their 2020 season. Trying to replace over 20 starters from their national championship roster, the turnover has caused struggles for head coach Ed Orgeron. Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase were all players who tore up Texas and are no longer with the program.
LSU currently sits at 2-3 with wins over Vanderbilt and South Carolina. The losses have come against Mississippi State, Missouri, and Auburn.
ESPN throws in a second projection, saying Texas will face another SEC opponent in Arkansas. Old Southwest Conference rivals, if the Longhorns and Razorbacks face each other, it would be a tune-up game for 2021’s matchup in Fayetteville.
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Texas still has an opportunity to move up into a more prestigious bowl game with wins in their final three games. As things stand, the best scenario for Texas is still a New Year’s Six bowl as Big 12 champions.
However, a more realistic scenario is the Longhorns ending up exactly where they are right now. In the Texas Bowl against a decent to below average SEC opponent.
Bowl games are all about fun matchups. Facing off against either LSU or Arkansas would provide plenty of headlines.
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