Texas still unranked in AP poll

Texas remains unranked in the AP poll after losing to Baylor. With rivalry week this week, a lot of ranked matchups are on the schedule.

The Longhorns remain unranked in the AP poll after Saturday’s 24-10 loss on the road to Baylor. The Bears moved up two spots to No. 11, just missing out on the top 10 by three points.

Here is the new top 25:

1) LSU

2) Ohio State

3) Clemson

4) Georgia

5) Alabama

6) Utah

7) Oklahoma

8) Florida

9) Minnesota

10) Michigan

11) Baylor

12) Penn State

13) Wisconsin

14) Oregon

15) Notre Dame

16) Auburn

17) Memphis

18) Cincinnati

19) Iowa

20) Boise State

21) Oklahoma State

22) Appalachian State

23) Virginia Tech

24) Navy

25) USC

Others receiving votes:

Iowa State 74, Virginia 38, Texas A&M 27, Air Force 22, SMU 9, Arizona State 4, Louisiana-Lafayette 1

The team that fell the most was No. 14 Oregon. Losing on the road to Arizona State, the Ducks’ playoff hopes are finished as they pick up their second loss of the season.

With rivalry week ahead of us, there are a few ranked matchups that set up for a great weekend. The biggest one will be No. 2 Ohio State traveling to the Big House to face No. 10 Michigan. The Wolverines have not beaten the Buckeyes since 2011.

Other games include the Iron Bowl, with No. 5 Alabama facing No. 16 Auburn, No. 9 Minnesota hosts No. 13 Wisconsin for the right to go to the Big 10 championship, and No. 7 Oklahoma goes to Stillwater to play No. 21 Oklahoma State in Bedlam.

Unranked Texas will face unranked Texas Tech on Friday at 11:00 a.m.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Amway Coaches Poll: Texas remains unranked

Texas remains unranked after losing on the road to Baylor. Oklahoma and Baylor are the other Big 12 teams ranked and are inside the top 10.

Texas remains unranked in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports after a disappointing loss to Baylor on Saturday. The 24-10 loss was the Longhorns’ second loss in a row and moved Texas to 2-4 in their last six games.

The top five remain the same, but Utah takes over at No. 6 as No. 13 Oregon suffered a loss on the road to Arizona State. The Utes are the PAC 12’s remaining hope for the College Football Playoff.

Fellow Big 12 members Oklahoma stay at No. 7, Baylor moves up three spots to No. 10, and Oklahoma State moves up two spots to No. 21.

Below is the latest Amway Coaches Poll in its entirety, voted on by 65 FBS head coaches.

1) Louisiana State

2) Ohio State

3) Clemson

4) Georgia

5) Alabama

6) Utah

7) Oklahoma

8) Florida

9) Minnesota

10) Baylor

11) Michigan

12) Penn State

13) Oregon

14) Wisconsin

15) Notre Dame

16) Auburn

17) Cincinnati

18) Memphis

19) Boise State

20) Iowa

21) Oklahoma State

22) Appalachian State

23) Virginia Tech

24) Navy

25) Southern California

Schools dropped out

No. 21 Southern Methodist; No. 24 Texas A&M; No. 25 San Diego State.

Others receiving votes

Air Force 74; Iowa State 55; Virginia 32; Texas A&M 26; UL Lafayette 18; Southern Methodist 18; Wake Forest 5; San Diego State 4; Indiana 2; Hawaii 2; Temple 1.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

NBA mulling reseeding, in-season tournament and play-in tourney

The NBA is engaged in serious discussions with the National Basketball Players Association and broadcast partners on sweeping and dramatic changes to the league calendar that would include a reseeding of the four conference finalists, a 30-team in-season tournament and a postseason play-in, league sources told ESPN. These scenarios would include the shortening of the regular season to a minimum of 78 games, league sources said.

Discussions are progressing with hopes …

Discussions are progressing with hopes of bringing a vote to the April meeting of the league’s Board of Governors that would introduce some — if not all — of these proposals into the NBA’s 75th anniversary season of 2021-22, league sources said. The NBA still has work to do coordinating with constituents on the myriad implications involving the proposed changes. The reseeding of teams in the semifinal round based on regular-season record could give the NBA a championship series that includes its best two teams. The WNBA has been seeding teams in the playoffs without regard to conference for several seasons.

In proposals that include adoption of …

In proposals that include adoption of in-season tournaments and post-season play-in, the traditional regular season schedule would be reduced from 82 games — with most teams scheduled to play 78 or 79 games. There’s an extremely limited possibility of a team playing a maximum of 83 games based on on possible tournament and play-in scenarios, league sources said. For the in-season tournament, the NBA is focused on 30-team participation that begins with a divisional group stage of scheduled regular-season games. Those pre-knockout round games will be part of the regular-season schedule. Six divisional winners — based on home and away records in the group stage — and teams with the next two best records would advance to a single-elimination knockout round, league sources said. Those teams could each potentially compete in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

The NBA and NBPA are finding common …

The NBA and NBPA are finding common ground on a post-Thanksgiving tournament window that would extend into mid-December, league sources said. Months ago, the NBA had proposed a late January-February tournament that would culminate with a Final Four during All-Star weekend, sources said. That idea faded fast. Both the union and team executives expressed concern over that idea. The NBPA was resistant to shortening players’ All-Star breaks and requiring some to potentially participate in the in-season tournament and All-Star weekend.

Texas’ series history against Baylor

Texas’ third most-played opponent, Baylor comes into Austin with only one loss. The Longhorns can make it five wins in a row on Saturday.

Texas and Baylor have been playing against each other for a long time, with the first game dating back to 1901. Only Texas A&M and Oklahoma have played the Longhorns more. The Bears are also the team Texas has beaten the most in their history. Dominating the series for years, the momentum swung towards Baylor in the first half of the decade. Now on a four-game winning streak and back in favor of Texas, they can add another win against an old rival on Saturday.

Here is the series record between the Longhorns and Bears:

All-time series record: Texas leads 78-26-4

Largest wins: Texas 77-0 in 1913, Baylor 50-7 in 1989

Latest Texas win: Oct. 13, 2018

Last season’s victory against Baylor was one that was led by then backup and now SMU quarterback Shane Buechele. Sam Ehlinger left the game injured in the first quarter and Buechele played well in this place.

Buechele was 20-34 with 184 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. His touchdown was a 44-yard deep throw to Collin Johnson who beat one on one coverage down the right sideline to give the Longhorns a 13-10 lead.

Where the Longhorns really succeeded though was on the ground. Keaontay Ingram had a season-high 110 yards on just 19 carries. Tre Watson contributed 41 yards and Texas rushed for 170 total yards. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had the only rushing touchdown for the Longhorns, scoring on a wildcat formation touchdown.

Holding Baylor go 100 rushing yards, the Bears’ 88 rushing yards were third-fewest Texas allowed in the regular season. Quarterback Charlie Brewer led the Baylor in rushing with 22 yards. As for passing the ball, Brewer struggled, only completing 51% of his throws. His 240 yards, a touchdown, and an interception were apart of an offensive struggle for the Bears.

Texas won 23-17, making it four wins in a row against Baylor. It is the longest winning streak the Longhorns have had in the series since winning 12 straight from 1998 to 2009.

Latest Baylor win: Oct. 4, 2014

Ranked No. 7 at the time, Baylor was riding a 4-0 start with an average margin of victory of 41 going into the 2014 matchup against Texas. Under first-year Head Coach Charlie Strong, Texas was 2-2 and still trying to find themselves.

Both quarterbacks had an awful day, completing a combined 41% of their throws. Baylor’s Bryce Petty was 7-22 with 111 yards. Two of those seven completions were second-half touchdowns to Antwan Goodley and Corey Coleman. Texas’ Tyrone Swoopes was a little better going 16-34 with 144 yards, but he had two interceptions.

Both teams excelled running the ball, especially the Bears. Baylor’s Shock Linwood averaged 5.3 yards per carry, with 148 yards on 28 carries. Other running back Johnny Jefferson had 72 yards on 11 carries. Texas had Jonathan Gray and Malcolm Brown go for 134 yards on 24 carries, while Gray scored the Longhorns’ only points of the game.

In a low scoring affair, both offenses struggled to find points. The only scoring play of the first half was a first-quarter blocked field goal by Baylor and Terrell Burt returned it 62 yards to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.

Baylor beat the Longhorns 28-7, making it their second win in Austin since 2010. Before those two wins, it had been since 1991 that the Bears beat Texas on the road. Baylor ended the season 11-1 and just missed out on the inaugural College Football Playoffs, while Texas stumbled to a 6-7 season.

Texas will play Baylor on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST on FS1.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]