RANKING THE STATE
Texas Div. I football rankings: A&M and UT have big tests this weekend
Oct 10, 2019, 6:06 am
RANKING THE STATE
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
As predicted, Rice took another loss and the lost season continues. It's tough to say where it all ends but on the plus side they're off this week. With just two wins in as many seasons under Bloomgren, Rice has trended steadily downward since the 2013 Conference USA Championship and things aren't looking good for the young head coach.
So I was saying nice things about these guys playing tough opponents but that they now had a chance to win against UTSA, but they didn't. They lost head to head to the team right below them in the ranking? That means they switched places. Don't worry Miners fans, basketball season is coming soon enough.
UTSA came out of the game victorious and that means they moved up one spot over UTEP, whom they beat. That's a cool feeling. This week though UAB comes to visit after beating Rice and they play good football, so this may be a short run of success but if it isn't, they're only one game (and a heads up loss to Baylor) out of the lead in their division.
Hopefully rust gathered because these guys haven't been playing great and maybe they could use an excuse or at least a change in habits. They travel to Southern Mississippi and now we'll see what direction things are going in, when they lose they don't score more than 30 points, when they win they score over 40. So keep an eye on the scoreboard.
After two wins in a row and a week off to feel great about themselves Texas State is hosting UL Monroe, another team they can beat if they play well. Let's see if these guys have figured out what winning football looks like yet. UPDATE: They haven't and they lost.
Tech turned in its biggest win of the year, beating Oklahoma State as a 10-point underdog. The Red Raiders get a chance to back that up with a win at unbeaten Baylor. Back to back wins from the underdog position would launch this program back into the low end of some of the ranking metrics and sets an opportunity for them to finish the season strong.
Houston seems to be trying to settle things and right the ship, Cincinnati is a good program but this is a possibly winnable game for Houston. Let's see what they put together this weekend. Houston is currently a hard program to judge just because of all the turmoil that's swirled through the program this year, but winning and losing is ultimately the way we tell the story in football, so a win here helps to further settle things down.
TCU is off this week. That win against Kansas looks less and less worthwhile after completely dropping the ball against Iowa State, and for those who have been reading this with me weekly know that I think time off after a loss is the worst thing for a football team, so lets see how TCU handles it.
For the first time since the death penalty was laid on SMU over twenty years ago, the Mustang are ranked now. They squeaked out a dramatic win against Tulsa and are now off this week. The run they've been on is impressive and I'm not ready to bump them over Texas A&M, even though the nation has, because the Aggies are hosting Alabama this weekend but that might change next week.
Well, this is really their last chance to stay in the top three. Let's see what happens this week, I mean I think they're going to lose, but maybe not.
They won while A&M was off, we'll see what happens this week. I think Baylor will win against Tech and A&M will lose and SMU is off this week, so more than likely there won't be much change here. In my opinion Baylor needs to keep winning to hold onto it's position in the rankings more than a program like A&M, considering there are zero quality opponents on the list of teams they've beaten so far.
Well this is the big one, The Red River Rivalry. Jalen Hurts just made the grave mistake of downplaying the importance and size of this rivalry. This is the most dangerous game on Oklahoma's schedule, I think and the one game where they see it coming and may not be able to stop it. Here we go.
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Coming off the opening series win over the Mets, there's a lot for the Astros to be excited about. The starting pitching led the way in all three games, and Houston's high-leverage relievers delivered when it mattered most.
Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader closed the door on the Mets in games 1 and 3. Bryan King has also looked impressive, and it appears he'll be counted on in the seventh inning to hand the lead to Abreu and then Hader.
If Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski can deliver consistent performances similar to the other starters, the Astros will have one of the most feared rotations in baseball.
Plus, more help could be on the way with Lance McCullers making another step in his rehab pitching for Sugar Land over the weekend.
As good as the pitching has been, there are some legitimate concerns about the offense. Their struggles to hit with runners in scoring position in 2024 are still an issue through the first series of 2025.
Newcomers Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker have yet to do much with the bat, and the only extra-base hits this season (2) have come from Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez.
As far as the learning curve in the outfield, Jose Altuve and Cam Smith are off to a decent start. And despite the shakeup at second base, the team is still getting zero production from Mauricio Dubon and Brendan Rodgers.
It appears Joe Espada's plan in the Mets series was to get everyone some playing time, which seems like a smart strategy early in the season. However, the game plan didn't pay off on Saturday, with Zach Dezenzo, Victor Caratini, and Dubon combining for zero hits.
Polarizing bats
Finally, how are we feeling about the Torpedo bats sweeping the league?
While the Yankees aren't the only team with players sporting these new sticks, their results have been the talk of MLB with the Bronx Bombers mashing 15 dingers over just three games.
With the Astros sitting at one homer on the season, why not give them a try? One thing is for sure, don't be surprised if players opt to use these new bats to break out of a slump at some point this season.
We have so much more to cover. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday live right after the game. Click here to catch!
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