Texas suffered a steep drop in USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank of the top college football teams in the nation.
It’s certainly a reasonable position considering the Longhorns dropped back-to-back conference games to unranked opponents. Two losses on their resume this early on in the season is concerning in itself, but the manner in which Texas is losing these games is unacceptable.
Eventually you have to point the finger at the coaching staff. That begins and ends with head coach Tom Herman, who has fielded an unprepared, mistake-ridden, undisciplined football team for the majority of this season.
With one of the most talented rosters in all of college football, Herman continues to produce familiar failures throughout his fourth year in Austin. The unusual COVID-19 pandemic year will likely buy him extra time to right the ship, but his seat is certainly warming up.
The Longhorns still have a very realistic chance of chasing the Big 12 title if they’re able to defeat Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Iowa State this season. In USA TODAY Sports Re-Rank, five conference opponents are ranked higher than Texas.
No. 9 Oklahoma State
No. 17 Iowa State
No. 18 Kansas State
No. 27 Oklahoma
No. 39 TCU
No. 40 Texas
Oklahoma State is the only team in the conference with an undefeated record, but there’s much tougher games that await them. Kansas State recently lost talented quarterback Skylar Thompson for the rest of the year, while Iowa State is resurging after an embarrassing Week 1 nonconference loss.
The Big 12 title is wide open for the taking.